The Paladin Queen-Voltron Legendary Defender
by Whitepaladdin
Summary: I had everything I ever wanted. I perfect life as a princess and loving parents, I could not ask for more. All that was taken from me when Zarkon turned dark and plummeted the entire galaxy into chaos. I was reawaken after 10,000 years only to become a Paladin of Voltron beside a group of humans. My only goal. Free the galaxy from Zarkon's tyranny.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Pilot**

War is a horrible thing. It will destroy anything in its path and take the people you love most. There is no middle ground, your ether the hunter or the hunted. I never thought at some point in my life I would see my planet, my galaxy, in chaos. There are those who believe the only way to achieve victory is through force, but I beg to differ. The war between the Galra empire has been ruthless and has left many planets without hope. We have united forces with the Alteans. My father, King Glerd, is a very close friend of King Alford and I am best friends with his daughter Allura.

Believe or not, our lives where peaceful once, full of joy and happy memories. Allura and I were born around the same time. Our families where filled with joy with the news of our coming, their lives would finally be whole. My parents had been trying to have a child for the longest time. They no longer cared if it was a boy or a girl, they just wanted the chance to hold their very own child in their arms.

I come from a very ancient race called the Drakie. My people have the ability to connect with the elements. Most of the Drakie are born with one ability and these abilities are inherited from their parents. The Golden Drakie was the exception, he was able to control all the elements. The elements the Drakie controlled where: wind, water, lighting, fire, light/darkness, nature, stone, energy, metal, terra, and ice. There were eleven tribes each separated according to their element. Our planet, Negetia, prospered for thousands of years. As protectors of the elements, we were kind people, but some races feared us.

We had the ability to turn into giant beast with wings as tall as mountains. There where does who were born this way and did not has the ability to turn into humanoids. Those born in their full Drakie form where called Drako, born from eggs and paired with a shifting Drakie. Some would spend thousands of years in their eggs waiting for their partner. They formed a bond so strong that their lives became inter-connected.

I was born a shifting Drakie and came from the royal family known as the Firehearts. For generations the golden Drakie would rule over the tribes and keep the balance between them. The golden Drakie was always born a boy, but I was the exception. I became the first Gold Drakie to be born a girl, no one was prepared for this news. My parents overlooked that and accepted that one day I would rule over the tribes, not by marriage but through inheritance.

We were on board the Altean Castle looking upon in horror as we saw our starships destroyed one by one by Zarkon's forces. The horrible truth started to sink in slowly, we were losing the war. I felt my father put his hand on my shoulder trying to comfort me.

"Taylin I need you to be strong for me and for your people" he suddenly said.

"What do you mean? Our people are scattered to the stars, it looks like this is the end for us." I turn to look at his face with tears in my eyes and I saw the same look reflected on his face.

"I am sorry"

"You don't have to be sorry, Zarkon is to blame for this. His hunger for power has blinded him. We need Voltron!" I exclaimed.

He put his hand on my cheek to wipe away a stray tear.

"I will always love you Taylin no matter what happens"

"What are you talking like this?" Suddenly my vision became blurry and my world turned dark.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

 **The Rise of Voltron**

My mind was dormant, and my body felt cold to the bone. My inner fire had been suppressed and fought to keep my body alive. I heard muffled voices coming from somewhere, but I could not tell who they belonged to. I tried to locate the voices around me with my mind but came out blank. My ears perked up when a noise, like something was opening, broke me out of my dormant state of mind.

What is going on?

I was finally able to open my eyes and saw faces that I had never seen before. My first instinct was to defend myself, I pounced from the pod and onto the nearest trespasser.

"Who are you?!" I said as I pinned him to the ground with my foot ready to punch him at any given moment.

"If you would move your foot from my chest, I just might tell you" he uttered with difficulty under the weight of my foot.

I looked into his grey eyes and tried to find something to indicate that he was hostile but when I looked, I only saw my reflection in them.

"Taylin!" Someone yelled and broke my concentration.

I turned to see who had called my name and saw Allura.

I forgot about the man beneath my foot and ran to her. I embraced her "Allura I am so confused what is going on?" She pushed me away at arm's length.

"Taylin I know this is going to sound crazy, but we have been asleep for ten thousand years" she said. I gasped and took a few steps back. I was shocked to hear this news and thought of my father.

What happened to my father? Why can't I feel him!

The last thing I could remember was his face and him telling me to be strong. I broke eye contact with Allura and looked at the other six people that were in the room "Co-Coran?" I stuttered.

"It's very nice to see you, your highness" he said.

I recovered from my shock and spoke up "What is going on here? Who are you people? What happened to everyone else? This is all very confusing."

"We don't know what you're talking about. Why don't you tell us who you are? Maybe we can help." The man who I had pinned down said. I turned to look at him, he looked different from the rest of the trespassers. He had short hair with white on the front and a scar on his nose. Since I did not say anything Allura nudge me on the side.

"I have already told them who I was, and it appears they came on the Blue lion" she said. I snapped out of it and turn my head immediately "The Blue lion has a new Paladin?"

"It appears so" she responded.

I turned to look at the others and introduced myself, "I am Taylin Fireheart Queen of the planet Negetia"

"Wow you're a queen and she is a princess! That's amazing!" A short male said.

I smiled at his excitement and asked, "What is your name?"

"My name is Pidge and that is Hunk, Lance, Keith, and Shiro" When she said the last name she pointed to the man with the scar on his nose.

So, his name is Shiro.

"I hate to tell you this Taylin, but we have a situation" Allura said. "It appears Zarkon is still alive and has destroyed most of the planets in our solar system." She finished.

"Wait he is still alive after all this time!" I retaliated.

"That is what I said when I found out but Shiro here can confirm that he is still alive, he was his prisoner" Allura looked at Shiro.

So that's what happened to him. I thought with pity.

So many different emotions went through me that I no longer new what to think. My planet was gone and so was Allura's.

"What Allura says is true, I was held captive by the Galra for a year" Shiro said.

I looked at him and felt sympathy for him. I know first-hand how it feels to be his prisoner. I could not begin to imagine the vile things he had to survive while he was captured. The Galra prisons are designed to break the strongest of minds and destroy any hope one might have of ever tasting freedom.

Shiro looked at Allura "About this Voltron what exactly is it and why is Zarkon searching for it?"

All this years and he is still searching for Voltron, I am just happy he has not gotten his dirty claws on it. I thought with a smirk.

"He is searching for it because he knows it's the only thing that can defeat him and that is why we must find it before he does." Allura said with determination.

"Allura is right, Voltron is our only hope of bringing him down" I added.

"I don't like to interrupt but you two must eat. It's been 10,000 years." Coran said carrying two plates of food. Honestly after all the bad news I received today I was not hungry and it seemed to be the case for Allura as well.

"Wow 10,000 years. That's like a thousand plus ten." The boy with the green jacket said.

"That's times ten." Another one said.

"Whatever dropout." I believe Pidge said he was Lance. The two of them glared at each other.

This people are going to be paladins?... We have a lot of work to-do. I sighed.

"I can't believe your people created such advanced technology 10,000 years ago. These must have been wonderful planets." Shiro commented looking around.

"Yes, it was but now it is gone, and we are the last of our races." Coran said sadly looking at us. He came to us and placed a hand on one of our shoulders. I took a step forward and embraced them both. Our once beautiful planets where no more, it's hard to believe that I would never lays eyes on Negetia ever again.

I looked behind Allura's back and saw four mice inside a pod "Looks like we are not the last once." I said. Allura turned around and carried the mice who happily complied. The bonding moment between them was broken when the castle's alarms sounded.

"Are we being attacked!?" I said over the alarm.

An image of a Galra warship appeared on the main screen.

"They've set their tracker on us!" Coran said with urgency.

"How did they find us?!" A shocked Allura asked.

"I don't know but I bet this is Keith's fault." Lance pointed out.

"Say whatever makes you feel happy but might I remind you, it was you who got us stuck on the other side of a wormhole!" Keith retaliated back and the two started fighting. Shiro got between them and stopped them.

"How much time do we have?" He asked, and Coran started counting his fingers.

"I would say a couple of days at least." Coran reported.

"Good. Let them come." Allura said turning to look at me with a small smile. I returned the smile and said, "By the time they arrive, we would have reformed Voltron to take Zarkon's empire down." I finished her thought.

"Queen Fireheart, there are six of these lions. How are we going to find the rest?" Shiro asked me. "Follow us, we will show you how." I waved my hand and they started to follow us to the main control room. Allura and I stood on the control platform and a light shown upon us.

"King Alfor and King Glerd, connected the lions to their life force. They alone are the key to finding the lion's locations." Coran explained. I felt the connection between the castle and when I opened my eyes, a map of the galaxy had appeared before us. Planets and stars holograms floated around the control room making the human's eyes sparkle with curiosity.

"These look like coordinates. It looks like the Black and White Lion are in the same location as the Blue Lion." Pidge observed.

"Very observant" I said to Pidge with a smile.

"That's because the Black and White lions are kept in the castle. It is to keep them out of Zarkon's hands. They can only be unlocked when all six lions are present." Coran continued.

"As you may have learned, the lions choose their pilots. It is a mystical bond that cannot be forced, they form something greater than science can explain." Allura added.

I looked upon the others from the platform, I suddenly knew who the lions would choose. Allura turned to me with a knowing look.

She knows as well.

She spoke, "The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will only take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times. Someone whose men would follow without hesitation, that is why Shiro, you will pilot the Black Lion"

"If you would Taylin" I nodded at her.

"The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality, it needs a pilot of intellect and daring. Pidge, you will pilot the Green Lion." I said to the exited boy.

"The Blue Lion" Allura continued but was cut off by Lance.

"Wait let me guess, takes the most handsome slash best pilot of the bunch?" He interrupted with a smirk. We just stared at him until I decided to move on.

"The Yellow Lion has a caring personality and a kind heart. Its pilot is one who puts the need of other above his own. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together." I said while Hunk pointed at himself. "Yes Hunk, you will pilot the Yellow Lion." I finished.

"The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master, it is the most agile amongst the other but also the most unstable. Its pilot needs to be one who relies on instinct rather than skill alone. Keith, you will pilot the Red Lion." Allura told him.

"This guy!" Lance started but I shut him with a glare.

"Continue" I told Allura.

"Unfortunately, I cannot locate its coordinates. Since its been 10,000 years, the castle might need some adjustments."

She Continued.

"Lastly the White Lion is very unique, it requires a pilot who holds all the other lion's qualities. As the heart and wings of Voltron, it holds all the lions together. The White Lion has a strong connection to the Black Lion, they work closely with one another. This pilot must have a strong heart. Taylin, I believe that you are suited to be the pilot of the White Lion. It is your destiny and your quintessence mirrors the lion perfectly."

I looked at Allura and was at a loss of words. She smiled at me and took both my hands in hers. "You are like a sister to me Taylin and your father would be proud of you taking his place as the White Paladin."

"Thank you Allura, your words mean everything to me. I am so glad we are in this together"

Suddenly the lion's holograms ran up and formed Voltron.

Allura let go of my hands and said "Together, the lions will form Voltron. The most powerful being in the galaxy. The defender of the universe." She finished with pride at what our fathers had created. Everyone looked in awe at the hologram of Voltron that slowly vanished from sight.

"Wait, ok. We're going to be in there and in flying lions, got that part. How do the lions turn into legs? Is this gonna be a long trip? Cause I have to pee. Do you people pee?" Hunk kept rambling.

"All will be clear in time, and yes Hunk we do pee." I said with a small laugh.

"Alright then, I guess we should start looking. I'll go with Pidge to find the Green Lion. Lance, take the Blue Lion and go with Hunk to find the Yellow Lion. Keith will stay here in case the Red Lion is found." Shiro finished giving instructions to the new Paladins.

Definitely the pilot of the Black Lion. I thought looking at him.

"Good luck everyone, be safe and may the stars watch over you." I said before they set out.

"Well, I'm going to find something more suited to ware it's been after all 10,000 years." I said to Coran and Allura. "Please call me if I am needed, I won't take long." Allura nodded at me from the platform. She was holding the wormholes open for them.

I walked through the castle to my assigned bedroom, as I walked, I remembered my time here. Back when I still had my father and mother by my side.

"I really hope they find the rest of the lions" I said to myself.

I went into my closet and pulled out my battle suit which consisted of a black tight suit. Golden wings adorned my back and I placed my golden crown that went across my forehead just like Allura's. I put on my boots and walked back to the main control room. I took my time walking back thinking about everything that has changed. I still could not believe that we had been asleep for 10,000 years. It just did not seem possible. My father must have used his powers to black me out in order to put me in the sleeping pod. He knew that I would have never agreed to that.

When I arrived everyone was already back, I took longer than I expected. "Wow, girl you look fine" Lance said to me with a smirk. I was not too keen to his flirting but continued walking.

Just ignore him Taylin, he will get tired and stop. I thought annoyed.

"Well I am happy to see that everyone found their lions" I said once I was in front of them.

"Yup, but you wouldn't believe the trouble we had to go through to get this guy's lion. There were like enemy ships shooting at us. I almost puked, I felt like Hunk." Lance groaned holding his stomach.

"Think how I felt. I am Hunk." Hunk said with a frown.

"Yeah. We had a tough time too." Pidge said with a smirk and looked up a Shiro.

"Well many things have changed this 10,000 years, those planets use to be peaceful, but look at the bright side we are one step closer to rebuilding Voltron." I said with a smile.

"Anyways, I have good news. We were able to locate the Red Lion but there is a bit of a good news and bad news. The good news is, the lion is nearby. The bad news is it's aboard the Galra ship now orbiting Arius." Coran informed us making everyone nervous. "But wait good news again, we are on Arius!"

Oh no.

"Wait! They're already here?!" Shiro said shocked.

"Yes, unfortunately my calculations were a bit off. Finger counting is more of an art that a science." Coran stated.

Great, just great.

The main screen received a transmission and a Galra appeared.

"Princess Allura, this is commander Sendak of the Galra empire." His words froze us in place. "I am here to confiscate the lions. Turn them over to me, or I will destroy your planet." And with that ominous massage, he disappeared.

"Ok let's not panic" Shiro said snapping us all out of our thoughts.

"Don't panic?! That weird purple alien guy is driving its warship right toward us. We right now have five lions-"

"Three working lions to be exact." Hunk groaned at Pidge's comment and continued.

"We have three working lions and a castle that's at least 10,000 years old."

"Actually it's 10,600 years old. You see-" Coran stated but was cut short by Hunk who placed his hand over his mouth.

"See? Now is the perfect time to panic!"

"Wait, this castle has a particle barrier we can activate." Allura remembered.

"Girl you already activated my par-" "Lance!" Shiro interrupted Lances comment.

"But the particle barrier won't hold Sendak's cannon forever. Their technology must have advanced while we were sleeping." Coran said.

"We'll just have to figure out our plan of action and figure it out quickly." Shiro said.

"I say we pop a wormhole and live to fight another day." Lance suggested, and Hunk backed him up.

"Yeah! I mean our best chance is Voltron, but we can't even form it yet, we gave it the old college try. The best we could do is use our lions to make...a worm... a snake? Maybe we can use that to slither through a wormhole." Hunk said. While everyone was arguing on what to do Lance walked up to Coran, Allura, and I.

"Then it's decided. Allura and Taylin, you two can ride with me and someone else can take the old guy." Coran looked unamused after that comment.

Metal note, never call Coran old.

"We can't just leave this planet to be destroyed, I am tired of running. I have stood and watched as countless planet were destroyed by the Galra and I will not stand here while I could have done something to save this planet." I said with anger in my voice.

Everyone stopped their bickering and looked at me. Lance seemed to be taken back by my tone.

"Taylin is right. Staying is our only option." Keith agreed with me. Lanced glared at him and clicked his tongue.

"Here's another option, shut your quiznak!" He retaliated, and we backed away from him.

"I don't think you're even using that word correctly." Keith growled back. Soon everyone in the room was talking at once arguing over whether we should stay or leave. Lance and Hunk wanted to leave and everyone else wanted to stay and fight. After all this time I wanted a shot at the Galra and this was my chance.

"That's enough! We will not leave! I for once, will not run away like a coward!" I boomed at the other stopping their arguments.

"She's right" Shiro agreed with me. "Princess Allura and Queen Fireheart, these are your lions. You dealt with the Galra before, you know what we're facing better than any of us. What do you think is the best course of action?" Shiro asked us. I did not know what to say. I lead an army before, but I always had my father's trusted guidance to lead me in the right direction. I glanced at Allura without turning my head and she seemed to be in the same conflict as well.

What kind of queen I am? If I don't even know what to-do.

"Maybe your father can help." Coran spoke up to Allura. Allura's eyes widen when he mentioned her father. With a nod of my head I told Allura that it was alright to go. I knew that somehow King Alfor has kept his memories alive for Allura, I just wished my father had done the same. I stayed behind with the others, everyone was looked at me while I watched Allura and Coran walk out of the control room. I felt their eyes on me and turned to look at them.

"So, from what planet are you from?" I asked.

"We are from planet Earth" Pidge responded.

"Oh, Earth. I have visited your planet a couple of times before the war." I said.

"Really, that's amazing! But how come there are like no legends of your people, I mean we human like our stories" Hunk said.

I started to walk and with a small smile said, "Oh there are stories about us, but your people knew us differently from what we call ourselves." At my response, Pidge immediately perked up.

"How did we know you as?" He asked.

Everyone seemed to edge closer to what I was going to say.

"My people are a very ancient race that hold strong connections to the elements around us, as I have mentioned before, we called ourselves Drakie, but your people called us Dragons."

"You're a dragon!" Lanced said in shock.

"No way!" Hunk said with the same expression.

"So, dragons are real?" Shiro asked in disbelieve.

"We are as real as I am standing before you...or we use to be." I said with a bit of sadness in my voice.

"We'll defeat Zarkon and free the universe from him." Shiro said with determination and walked closer to me to place his non robotic hand on my shoulder. I tensed at his touch and looked up at him, he seemed to notice this and took his hand off.

What is wrong with me. He is only trying to help. I mentally scolded myself.

Another fight between Lance and Keith broke out breaking the awkwardness between us.

"That Enough guys!" Shiro told them and went to separate them. "I know what we are going through is hard, but we are here. We need to start working as a team whether you like it or not." Shiro finished calmly. I looked at him amazed at his ability to stay calm in these situations.

The door to the control room opened and Allura walked in with her space suit on and her hair in a bun.

"You six Paladins were brought here for a reason. The Voltron lions were meant to be piloted by you and you alone. We must fight and keep fighting until we defeat Zarkon. Voltron is the universe's only hope, we are the universe's only hope."

Now that is the Allura I know. I though with admiration.

"We're with you princess." Shiro said.

"To the very end." I added.

Allura told us to follow her to the armory. When we entered six pods lighted up the room with the Paladin armors inside. My instinct drove me towards the far-left corner, towards my father's armor. I heard the others looking at their armor in awe.

I'll make you proud father.

"Princess are you sure about this? They aren't exactly the best and brightest the universe has to offer." I heard Coran's comment even though he whispered it.

I reached out with my mind to Coran's "Hey! I heard that!"

"uhhh, no I was not talking about you" Coran thought quickly.

I turned a little and squinted my eyes at him.

"No, but they're all we have." Allura added unaware of our mental conversation.

"Alright team, it's time to suit up." Shiro said and everyone started to put on their armor.

I was happy that the armor had the ability to adjust to body size otherwise it would have been too big for me. I turned to look at the others, at my new team, we finally looked like Paladins.

Allura walked to the table in the middle of the room and five bayards floated out and into our hands.

"The bayard is the traditional weapon of the Paladins. It takes a distinct shape for each Paladin, forming a weapon that compliments each individual's fighting style and skill." Allura explained.

Hunk turned into a big yellow gun that when it appeared it was too heavy for him, Keith's bayard turned into a sword, Lance got a riffle and Pidge's bayard turned into a small looking triangle that fit his small hand perfectly.

"Aw, you got a cute little bayard." Lance teased when he saw Pidge's bayard.

An annoyed Pidge turned and zapped Lance making him fall to the ground. I looked down at him "Don't make fun of people when they are holding weapons." I told him.

"I'll make note of that." He said standing up slowly.

I turned to look and in front of me was my bayard, without hesitation I took hold of it by its handle, it immediately turned into a white and gold bow staff. I thought of my sword, Tempest, and my bow staff turned into sword.

"Hey! How did you do that?!" Lance said shocked.

"I guess since I was trained to wield different weapons, I can switch my type of weapon with just one thought" I explained.

"Shiro, I'm afraid your bayard was lost along with the Black Lion's previous Paladin." Allura apologized.

"I guess I'll just have to make do." Shiro replied calm as ever.

"How will you defend yourself then?" I asked him.

"Don't worry about me, I will be fine." He reassured me and for some reason caused my face to heat up. I looked away quickly before he could notice.

We all headed back to the control room and I waited until everyone filed out trying to avoid being next to Shiro.

What is wrong with me? First his touch and now his comment. Pull it together Taylin!

I walked out of the armory before I could ponder more.

When I walked in, Allura was giving instructions to the Paladins, "We'll need to retrieve the Red Lion from Sendak's ship."

"That's a pretty big ship. How will we know where to find it?" Keith asked.

"Well that's where you come in Keith. You should be able to feel the Red Lion's presence and track it down." Pidge explained.

"Yeah, remember the time when you felt that crazy energy back on Earth?" Lanced asked him

Here we go again. I thought, rolling my eyes.

"Yeah, you made fun of me for that." Keith shot back.

"And I'm proud of that, turns out it's that same kind of mumbo jumbo." He said with a smirk.

"You must remember Keith; the Red Lion is extremely temperamental. You'll have to earn its respect." Allura reminded him. Keith nodded at Allura and Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Alright, here's our plan of attack." Shiro started forming a plan, "Since the Galra know we have the Blue and Yellow Lions, Lance and Hunk will act as our decoys and find a way to disarm the cannon. The rest of us will sneak aboard on the Green Lion to get the Red Lion." He finished.

"Sounds like a good plan, lets leave before they get any closer to us." I told them.

Keith, Shiro, Pidge and I piled into the Green Lion and we took off towards the Galra ship.

We landed unseen underneath the warship and Pidge cut a hole with his bayard for us to enter.

Pidge and I where to act as defense for Shiro and Keith to find the Red Lion. We started to walk through the ship and I couldn't help but to get chills down my spine.

As we were about to go around a corner, Shiro suddenly froze and his breathing became uneven.

"Shiro what's going on?" I asked as I walked up to him and placed my hands on his shoulders. As I looked into his eyes, I saw fear.

"I been here before. This was where I was taken prisoner after the Kerberos mission." He answered through heavy breathing.

"Wait! So that means that the other crew members are on board! We have to find them!" Pidge said with urgency. I turned to look at him as did the others.

"Pidge we can't. Our main priority is to find the Red Lion and get out of here, we don't have the time." Shiro told him.

"No! We can't just leave them here!" He screamed.

Shiro took a deep breath "Look no one knows prisoners more than me but in war we have to make hard choices. We have to get moving."

"No!" Pidge screamed again freezing us in place. "Commander Holt is my father. He and my brother were on the Kerberos mission with you." Shiro's eyes widened at Pidge's statement.

"Commander Holt is your father?" he asked taken back.

"I've been searching everywhere for them and I am not giving up looking when I'm this close!" Pidge said with an angry tone.

"Wait!" Pidge was stopped by Shiro's voice. At this point I turned to look at him, I was way too close and still had my hands on his shoulders. I quickly took a few steps back like if he had burned me.

"I'm coming with you. I remember where the prisoners are held."

"Wait then what about us?" Keith questioned with annoyed look. Shiro turned to Keith and me.

"Change of plans, Queen Fire-"

"Please just call me Taylin" I told him.

"Taylin" he said as if testing out my name. "Taylin you'll go with Keith to find the Red Lion, and remember Keith, patience yields focus." Keith was about to retaliate but we heard footsteps and ran in opposite directions. I noticed Keith was not too happy with Shiro's decision. I was about to ask him if he was fine but decided against it. The two of us kept running through the ship trying to find the location of the Red Lion. Time passed, and we still could not locate it, Keith was starting to become irritated with this.

"Keith, I need you to stay calm and focused on the task at hand. You will not be able to locate your lion in this state on mind." He looked at me with a frown but complied. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, ten ticks passed by, I kept looking around for any sign of Galra soldiers.

"Gotcha! Come on it this way!" He ran behind us. I gave him a small smile and followed after him. We stopped in front of a door and with a wave of my hand the door opened for us. Keith looked at me bewildered.

"What? Come on" I told him.

We stood before the Red Lion, its force fields around it.

"Come on, we're getting you out of here. Open up!" Keith told it placing his hand on the force field, but nothing happened.

Really red you have to do this now!

"It's me Keith! I am- I'm your Paladin! We're connected, come on!" I felt a presence behind me and moved just in time to dodge a shot. Keith moved in front of me trying to shield both of us from the sentries' laser fire with his shield.

"Keith! I will take care of them you need to bond with your lion!"

On cue, my bayard appeared in my hand in a shape of a bow, I jumped over Keith pulling on the bow and an arrow immediately appeared. I fired it midair and took down two sentries with one shot. I moved quickly dodging their attacks and hit one on the head with my bow knocking it down. I sensed one coming from my right and shot an arrow at it without turning to look at it. The sentry fell to the floor with a load thud. I was about to finish the rest of, but it appeared that they had called for backup. I growled "Taylin!" Keith called to me, I retreated next to him summoning my shield. Keith's bayard turned into a sword and attacked. I did the same with my bayard and started helping Keith take them down but every time we knocked one down another would take its place. More and more sentries came into the hangar and pushed us back leaving us with no room of escape.

"Taylin, get ready!"

"For what?!"

Keith took hold of my hand and pulled a lever on the control panel causing the bay doors to open and suck sentries out into space. The suction was too strong, Keith's hand was hit with debris causing him to let go. We were sucked into space as well. We tried to keep ahold of each other, so we would not get separated. I closed my eyes trying to concentrate on slowing us down and when I opened them, I saw our salvation.

"Keith look!"

The Red Lion was coming toward us, it opened its jaws and took us in. Keith wasted no time in getting on the pilots' chair and getting us away from Sendak's ship.

"Good Kitty" Keith told it with a smile.

"That was intense" I told him holding on to the back of his chair. He turned to me and gave me a smile.

"You fight good, where you learn how to do all does moves?"

"I had years of trying" I told him with a grin.

We flew back to the castle and saw through the Red Lion's panel the rest of our team doing the same. I felt nervous, soon I would lay eyes on the White Lion.

What if I'm not good enough to be its Paladin. Will it even accept me?

I started to have an internal battle with myself, but I pushed those thoughts aside before they could take over me. Keith piloted the lion into the castle's hangar and we exited the once it had landed. Shiro was already standing with his back to us facing the Black Lion's bay doors, I went to-do the same.

Here we go.

Suddenly I could feel an energy go through me and it send chills throughout my whole body. I closed my eyes becoming wrapped up in this feeling.

Taylin...

I heard someone whispering my name and I opened my eyes. The White Lion's bay doors began to open revealing the magnificent white beast. Most of its body was white and its back was adorned with gold wings that were folded tightly to its body. It was almost as tall as the Black Lion and everything about it screamed pride.

Nimawe...

Suddenly the White Lion's eyes lit up yellow and stood up. All the lions in the hangar stood up as well and roared in unison. The lion leaned its head down to my level and opened its jaws. I wasted no time and ran into it taking my seat inside its head. I touched the handles and felt how the lion purred. This moment was soon over when the castle's alarms blared in my ears and the hangar lit up with flashing red lights.

"Sendak has entered the atmosphere. We need Voltron now!" Allura said into my helmet.

Everyone else ran into their lions and we soon took off toward the entrance of the castle. When we arrived, the Galra ship started to fire on the castle's particle barrier.

"The castle can only give you defense for a short period of time, you have to form Voltron now! Or we'll all be destroyed!" Allura said alarmed.

"Listen up Team Voltron! The only way to stop this is to give it all we got! I know this looks bad, but we can do this. Are you with me?!" Shiro took the lead. I nodded with determination.

"I'm nodding, is everyone else nodding?" Hunk innocently asked.

"Yes." We all said.

"Then let's do this!" Shiro said moving his lion forward and everyone else followed.

"Ok but how do we form Voltron?" Keith asked.

"Taylin?" Lance asked.

"Don't look at me this is the first time I do this as well." I told him with a confused look.

"I don't see a form into giant robot button anywhere on my dashboard." Hunk mentioned.

We continued to run with the Galra ships right behind us.

"This is insane! Can't they just cease fire for one minute, so we can think this through?! Is that too much to ask!?" Pidge screamed through our communication.

"I asked myself that same questions many time Pidge." I retorted.

His lion jumped up and grabbed one the Galra fighters and flung it at another causing them to explode.

"We gotta do something!" Keith growled. Then out of the nowhere the Yellow Lion crashed into him "Combine!"

"Hey!" Keith screamed.

"Ok that didn't work..."Hunk muttered.

I saw a Galra fighter coming straight towards me, I moved my lion's lever causing it to jump in the air taking it down with my right paw.

"Maybe we have to fly in formation. On my cue 3,2,1 Voltron!" Shiro exclaimed and everyone flew into the air but still nothing happened.

I did not remember this being so hard when the old Paladins did it.

"Wait! I feel something!" Lance said.

"Yeah! It's like we're being pulled in the same direction." Hunk added.

I looked up and saw the warships' tractor beam.

"Ummm, I think I know why, look up!" I told them. The ship fired another beam from its main cannon that brought down the castle's particle barrier.

Oh no, Allura!

Everyone else started to say their goodbyes to each other and I looked upon the warship in anger.

"I did not just survive 10,000 years in a cold sleeping pod to be taken down this day!" I exclaimed.

"Taylin is right, we can do this! Where the universe's last hope! We can't give up! Everyone is relying on us, we can't fail. If we work together, we'll win together!" Shiro's words brought confidence into my heart and we all affirmed what he just said.

The lions gave a load roar and started to fly in unison. I felt my lion start to shift and connect to the Black Lion. The others transformed connecting to my lion and my view changed, my lion was the chest of Voltron.

"Amazing"

"We formed Voltron!"

"I'm a leg!"

"We did it!"

"How are we even doing this!?"

"I don't know but now we can take down that cannon!" Shiro finished.

I helped pilot Voltron toward the Galra ship and the Red and Green Lions, now the arms, grabbed ahold of the cannon and teared it off. Keith punched his Lion on to the ship and blasted it creating an explosion, Pidge followed his lead. Soon the Galra ship was destroyed, we had won the battle.

We disbanded Voltron and flew back to the castle. I landed my lion besides the Black Lion and climbed out. I turned to my left side and saw Shiro doing the same. He looked at me and I gave him a genuine smile that he returned.

"Good work Paladins!" Allura said coming out of the castle with Coran not far behind. We thanked her and removed our helmets. She came up to me and gave me a hug, "I'm so proud of you Taylin!" She exclaimed.

She let me go and stepped back.

"Thanks for believing in me...thanks for believing in us" I said.

I turned to look at my team "We did it!" I told them with a wide smile.

"Heck yeah we did! "Keith exclaimed.

"How did we do it?" Shiro asked with a smile.

"I was just screaming my head off, maybe that helped" Hunk said.

I gave him a small laugh, then looked at Pidge who had a sad expression on his face.

"Don't worry, I am sure your father and brother are safe wherever they are. We will bring them back safely." Shiro told him placing a hand on his shoulder. Pidge looked up at him and gave him a small smile.

"We won this battle, but the war has only just begun. Zarkon will not stop until all the lions are in his possession." Allura told us.

"Good thing you Paladins know what you're doing cause you're going to have to form Voltron again and again." Everyone turned to look at Coran with confused faces.

"We barely survived forming Voltron one time." Lance whined.

"And you only had to fight with one ship. Wait until you have to fight against a whole entire fleet of them! It's not going to be easy being the defenders of the universe." Coran stated pulling at his mustache.

"Defenders of the universe...that's got a nice ring to it." Shiro said with a small laugh.

I turned to behind me to look at the magnificent creatures, the mighty lions of Voltron. Our lives would never be the same.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Some Assembly Required**

After our first fight we all headed back into the castle since it started to get dark outside. Allura asked me to lead the others to their rooms since the empty ones where in my area. I turned to look at the others.

"Please follow me, I will show you where your sleeping quarters are."

Everyone started to follow me, they looked tired after the eventful day we had.

"Wow how many rooms does this castle have?" Lance asked.

"A lot but not all the rooms are bedrooms." I answered.

"Here we are." I said pointing at the hall way.

They picked their rooms, Pidge being the closes on the same side of the hallway and Shiro chose a room across the hallway from mine.

"Well I hope you all get a nice rest, I will see you all in the morning."

"Good night" Pidge told me waving his right hand.

I smiled at him and entered my room. I decided to take a bath before going to bed. After all, I have not taken a bath for 10,000 years, I chuckled to myself.

 _What would mother have to say about that._

I stepped into my bathroom and began to remove my Paladin armor. As I was removing the chest piece over my head I caught a familiar scent. After all this time, my father's scent was still impregnated on the armor. I touched the golden symbol of Voltron on the chest piece running my hand over it and remembering my father wearing it. I remembered I use to make fun of him because the armor made him look robust.

I removed the rest of my armor and placed it on the counter. I looked up to see my reflection on my bathroom mirror. I unpinned my brown hair and let it fall to my shoulders and began to smooth it out with my fingers. I removed my crown from my head and finished undressing and walked into the shower. The hot water was so welcoming, it embraced my body and relaxed my muscles. I began to think of home and the things I would be doing at this moment before the war. The faces of my parents and my bonded Drako came to mind and for the first time since I had awoken, I allowed myself to cry. Here, where no one could see me I let it all out. My tears mixed with the water, I could taste the salt when they reached my lips. I knew I had to give myself this moment because in front of the others I had to be strong. No, I must be strong.

I am not alone in this, I have my fellow Paladins, Allura and Coran. I know that together we will figure out a way to rid of Zarkon and bring the peace and stability this universe needs.

I wiped away my tears and began to wash myself. I finished bathing, brushed my hair, changed into my comfortable sleeping robe and went to bed.

I woke up startled from a bad dream, sweat covered my forehead and my breathing was uneven. I laid my head down on my pillow trying to calm myself. Time passed, my breathing came back to normal, but I knew I was not going to be able to get any more sleep. I decided to get out of bed and change into my Paladin armor. I made myself look presentable and looked outside. It was still dark, but I needed to get out of my room. I walked into the hallway and decided to get something to eat in the kitchen. When I arrived, I served myself a plate of the typical green goo and ate quickly. After I was done I headed to the main control room where I found Allura and Coran working on the castle.

"Hello, my queen, could not sleep anymore?" Coran asked.

"No and looks as I am not the only one"

"I could not sleep so decided to start fixing to castle" Allura said from the control panel she was working on.

"Well what can I do to help?" I asked her.

"If you could please help me test out the systems, we need to update them in order to get the navigation system to work properly." She said.

"Sure, glad to be of service."

We worked on the castle for hours, we got so caught up in our work we did not notice the sun rising. I looked up and took in the scenery before me, this planet was beautiful.

"We really need to test the alarms" Allura mentioned snapping me out from the view.

"Yes we do, the alarm system seemed glitchy but I believe that I might have fixed that." I said turning my head to the right to look at her. "But the other Paladins are still asleep, the alarms will wake them up." I added.

"That is true. We should test them to see how fast they can prepare for battle." She said with a smirk.

I chuckled along with her "that should be fun."

"Coran sound the alarms and turn on the castle's speakers" I told him.

"Right away!" Coran answered enthusiastically.

The alarms started blasting loudly and the room started to flash red.

 _Yes, there definitely working properly._ I laughed to myself.

Allura started to speak over the intercom.

"Everybody up! Zarkon is attacking we need Voltron now!" she yelled into it.

"I don't know how long I will be able to hold them off on my own!" I added trying not to laugh.

"You have to sell it a little bit more." Coran said.

"Oh no Allura's dead, her head fell off and Taylin got blasted out of the sky!" He screamed making us back away from him. He kneeled down on the floor with the microphone in hand.

"Allura's severed head is trying to speak to me, what is it Allura head, what are your final words!" He added with fake tears in his eyes.

Suddenly Shiro came in dressed in his Paladin armor followed by Pidge, Keith and Hunk in normal clothes.

"Coran, its over" Allura said annoyed.

"I know, if only Voltron have been formed." He finished dramatically. He noticed everyone staring at him making him stand up quickly and throw the microphone over his shoulder.

"Time!" He said.

"I guess there's no Zarkon attack happening." Shiro said.

"And it's a good thing too because it took you. Coran?" Allura asked.

"75 degrees." Coran said making us look at him with confused faces.

"Oh, wait sorry! This is a meat thermometer" he apologized.

 _How do you confuse a ticker with a meat thermometer?_ I thought scratching my head.

I looked at the other Paladins, "A Paladin must always be ready to deal with any emergency, according to Coran here, I died because you all were too slow to aid." I said pointing my thumb in his direction.

"However long it was, it was too long. You must always be ready to battle with Zarkon. Look at you! Only Shiro is in uniform. Keith, Pidge, Hunk, where are your bayards? And where is Lance?" She scolded, at the mention Lance's name, he came in holding a cup.

"Hey, what's going on everybody?" He asked while walking in.

"Coran, Taylin, and I have been up for hours getting the castle back in order. We decided to test the alarms and thought it would be a good idea to test you as well. Guess which one failed?" Allura said annoyed.

Hunk yawned "Hey at least you got to sleep for 10,000 years. Monday night I was on Earth. Now I've flown through space in a giant mechanical lion, fought with an evil alien named Zarkon and ate some weird goo in a castle, that's a lot to process in... what day is it today?"

"It's the third quintal of the astronomical moment, hump day!" Coran exclaimed.

"Whatever, it's a lot to process." Hunk whined.

"Well at least most of them woke up and ran here. The only confusing thing here is why Shiro here is still in uniform when it clearly takes time to put on. Did you get any sleep?" I asked him, he awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

"You must understand the stake of our mission." Allura pressed a button on the main control panel and the room was filled with a holographic map of the galaxy.

"Over the last 10,000 years, the castle has picked up distress signals from the following locations, so all we can assume is that Zarkon has taken over almost the entire known universe." Allura explained.

The map was all red, I was surprised at the size of the Galra empire. Allura swiped to the left and the map became blue.

"Here is Earth, and attack on your planet is inevitable." Everyone gasped, expect for Shiro who looked at the holographic Earth with an expressionless face.

"Our mission is to free all those planets. Coran and I will get the castle ready to leave, during that time you will need to learn to form Voltron so that we can be ready to stop Zarkon."

"The princess is right, let's get ready and start training." Shiro said.

"Wait! I want to talk to the prisoners." Pidge said.

"Uh negative number 6, I have you all ranked by height...

 _Wait, what number I am?_

The prisoners need to stay in their pods until tomorrow." Coran told him.

"That's' right, now get to you lions!" Allura ordered.

We nodded and went to the pods that will carry us to our lion's hangers. I stepped on the lower platform from where Allura stands, right behind Shiro, and it opened, lowering me down into the tunnel. I ran and caught ahold of the zip line that carried me down to my speeder. I jumped down and it immediately drove me towards my lion. The speeder raised up into my lion's chest and I soon found myself in my lion's control area. When I placed my hands on the handles my lion stood up giving a load piercing roar.

"It's nice to see you as well." I told it.

I pulled on the handles and my lions made its way into the tunnel that would lead us outside. I saw the others heading towards the castle's main entrance and landed, I did the same.

 _I count five lions, where is hunk?_ I thought.

Few more ticks passed, and finally Hunk's voice rang through our helmets.

"Sorry everyone, but seriously can't these things be parked a little closer to the bridge?" He muttered out of breath.

"What, did you run into trouble Hunk?" I asked him with a smirk.

"No, no its all fine." He answered rather quickly making me grin even wider.

"Ok guys let's just fly together until we feel in sync." Shiro said.

Allura's face popped up on my screen "Feel the bond between your lions and fellow pilots. Until you feel the bond and become one unit and you form Voltron." She finished, and we took off.

Everyone was really excited, we honestly tried our best to connect with one another but after flying back and forth for who knows how long Shiro finally spoke up.

"Ok clearly this isn't working, lets land and think for a moment."

"Maybe we should start from the ground up like literally building Voltron." Keith suggested.

"What? Like a cheerleader pyramid?" Lanced teased.

"What's a cheerleader pyramid?" I asked confused.

"Well maybe I can show you later girl." Lance said smoothly.

I caught on "I don't think so."

"Denied!" Pidge said with a laugh.

"Ok guys that enough, I guess it worth a shot." Shiro stopped our bickering.

We piloted our lions and started to stack them on top of each other. We were all in awkward places. The Black Lion's forward paws where on my lion's back and felt how the Black Lion got heavier.

"Hunk, what are you doing?" Shiro asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You're supposed to be the leg, over there." Shiro said annoyed.

It all became clear in an instant.

"Uh no... I'm pretty sure I was the head last time."

"You yelled "I'm a leg!"" Lance shot back.

"Yeah I yelled a lot of things last time." Hunk defended.

"Shiro's the head." Keith said clearly getting irritated with the situation.

"All the time?"

"Yes Hunk Shiro is the head all the time, can you please get off so that we can do this right." I said annoyed.

"Ok" he said sadly.

Everyone started to rearrange their lions into the right formation, I felt how Shiro landed on my lion's back.

 _This is so humiliating._ I thought hoping no one would see this but kept my mouth shut.

"Ok, now focus and channel your energy into forming Voltron." I closed my eyes and followed Shiro's instructions. I was trying to connect to the minds of the others, but something kept blocking me out.

 _This is not going to work._

I tried harder.

"Is everyone bonding and focusing?" Shiro asked.

"Why was it so easy that last time?" Lance complained breaking my concentration.

Allura appeared on my screen once again.

"Maybe I can help. Last time you formed Voltron when you were in the heat of battle."

"Yeah" We agreed.

"What's your point Allura?" I asked.

"Well I have an idea. I can use this opportunity to test the castle's defense systems, this should help."

As soon as she finished her sentence I saw a laser flying right towards me. My instinct took over and moved my lion out of the way nocking Shiro off in the process. Everyone else tried to avoid getting hit.

"Allura! What that hell is this?" Keith exclaimed.

"A diagnostic test on the castle's defense system and inspiring you. I believe in you Paladins let fear be your guide, form Voltron!" She said exited.

"Allura stop this!" I yelled at her.

"Don't think so, besides you need the practice." She retorted.

"Forget this! I'm heading back to the castle!" Lance said flying his lion back.

"That not a good idea!" I yelled but I was too late. He had already crashed into the particle barrier.

"Please! Please have mercy on us!" Hunk yelled.

"You think Zarkon will show you mercy? He's probably on his way right now to destroy us all." Allura said a bit angry and walked away from the screen, that's when I realized.

"Allura don't you dare to leave us in auto lock!" But she just ignored me.

 _Why you!_

Everyone was panicking and trying their best to avoid being hit. I lost track of time and how many shots I had dodged when the castle stopped firing.

"Everyone back to the castle!" I ordered.

"I'm going to give Allura a piece of my mind." I muttered under my breath.

We walked in into the lounge room, everyone took a breather when they sat down. Lance plopped down. I sat next to Pidge and laid my head back recovering from the adrenaline but that was cut short when Allura walked in.

"You did it! You formed Voltron!" She exclaimed happily.

"No, we almost died." I told her with a frown lifting my head a bit to see her.

"The shooting stopped, and the particle barrier shut down, so we came in." Keith explained.

His comment made Allura mad.

"Oh, you have no right to give us that face you auto locked the castle's defenses on us but look at it this way, the castle's defenses are working perfectly." I teased her, she glared at me and I returned it.

"What are you guys doing here? Come on, we have to keep training." Shiro came in making our stare down stop.

"We have been training! When are we going back to Earth?" Hunk whined.

"I'm not going back until I find my family." Pidge said seriously. I placed a hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him.

"Guys, there won't be an Earth to return to if we don't find a way to defeat Zarkon." Shiro said.

"How? We can't even form Voltron." Lanced complained.

"We'll I'm not surprised. You know the original Paladins fought hundreds of battles together, side by side. They were linked to ears like a pack of Yolmers." Coran said pulling at his ears.

"Well" Lance raised his head "that's totally not us." He finished falling back to the couch.

"During the last attack, only your survival instincts helped you, but that will only get you so far. You have to act as a real team in order to form Voltron and beat Zarkon in the next attack. Why don't you try using the training deck?" Coran asked after his inspiring speech.

"There's a training deck?" Hunk whined.

"Totally forgot that" I told myself in a low voice.

We walked into the training deck, the humans looked at it in awe. I personally had trained here many time back then.

"Alright you six, the Paladin code demands that you put your team members safety above your own."

We formed a circle with our backs to each other, Pidge to my left and Shiro to my right.

"A swarm of drones is about to attack. It's up to each of you to fight and protect your teammates." Coran said and on cue, holes opened around the training deck walls and the drones came out. I raised my left hand and my shield activated. The drones started to shoot at us, I began to dodge the attacks trying to protect myself and the others. Hunk ducked and that caused Pidge to get hit, he suddenly disappeared into a black hole that appeared underneath him. Hunk startled by what he just seen lost sight of the situation and was shot, he too disappeared from view. We were down to four, we came closer to each other in a small circle.

"Protect your teammates or no one will be there to protect you." Coran's voice rang through the room and the drone's fire intensity increased.

"You keeping up over there Keith?" Lance called out.

"Just concentrate on keeping me safe!" Keith shouted back.

"Now is not the time to argue, concentrate!" I yelled at both of them, but Lance just ignored me.

"Me? I own this drill, you're the one who needs to concentrate."

The drones lowered themselves closer to the floor, Lance picked up his foot to avoid getting shot but the shot hit Keith. Lanced panicked and started to reflect shots without a sense of balance and that got him shot. It was only Shiro and I left, the drones pushed us even closer to each other. We were now back to back trying our best to shield each other. The drone's intensity increased even more to the point that they became a blur.

"Watch out!" I jumped and crashed into Shiro.

I fell on top of him and he put an arm around me trying to shield my back but there were to many shots fired at once and we got hit. Since Shiro still had his arm around my waist, we went into the same black hole. When we landed he let me go quickly and went back into the training room. I thanked the poorly lit room that hid my heating face.

"To form Voltron, you must have trust in each other. This ancient Paladin maze will teach you that. Your teammate can see the wall, but you cannot. So, listen carefully if you touch the walls you'll get a slight shock." Coran explained.

He paired us all into groups of two. Lance was already down there, so he did not get a say on who he was paired with. Pidge was paired with Hunk and I was paired with Shiro.

Keith sat in front on the monitor that displayed the maze and Coran gave him the microphone.

"Take two steps forwards." He instructed.

"Oh, for the love of... Why dose Keith have to be the man on the mic?" Lance complained.

"Don't worry, everyone will get a chance with the mic." Coran reassured him.

"Like I said, take two steps forwards, make a right and take three steps that direction." Keith explained again.

Naturally since those two didn't see eye to eye, Lance was shocked quite a few times before he gave up. Pidge and Hunk made a good team, they were able to get each other through the maze without incident. Shiro and I lead each other through the maze also without getting each other shocked. I tried to place what had happened earlier to the back of my mind but hearing his voice in my helmet made that a little more difficult than I imagined.

 _What is wrong with me?_

I pondered but was cut short by Coran moved us on to the next exercise.

"You'll never be able to form Voltron, unless all of you have a strong bond with your lion. Everyone put your lions into a nosedive!" Coran's voice rang in my lion.

We were now flying in the sky.

This shouldn't be so hard, I tried this with Storm many times before. I assured myself.

"This is an expert drill that you really shouldn't be attempting unless you've been flying for years, but we're in a bit of a rush so here we go."

I placed White into a nosedive and suddenly my vision turned black.

"Ah! What's happening?! I can't see!" I heard Lance scream in panic.

I was feeling uncomfortable with the situation and tried to calm myself. An image of my bonded Drako appeared in my head and somehow I was not frightened anymore.

"You must learn to see through your lion's eyes. The goal is to pull up right before you crash into the ground, feel what the lion feels."

"Mine feels scared!" Hunk exclaimed pulling his lion out of the nosedive.

I took a deep breath "here we go" I whispered.

"You still going Keith?!" Lanced asked.

"Yeah. You?"

"Going? I'm speeding up!"

"Oh yeah!?" I heard their lions' thrusters as they zoomed passed me. Not long after that I heard a crash.

"They crashed?!" Pidge said alarmed, he pulled up crashing into the side of a cliff.

I ignored everyone else and concentrated in creating a bond with my lion. Everything around me slowed down, the noise faded away. An all too familiar energy started to flow through me and when I opened my eyes I could see everything clearly. I pulled back my lion's handles before we crashed into the ground and we were flying together through the canyon. I looked to my right and I saw the Black Lion.

"Good work you too!" Coran complimented.

"Good job Taylin." Shiro said through the speaker.

"I'm glad to see you made it as well." I replied with a smile.

Back in the training room, we sat in a circle with a mind headset on our heads as Coran had instructed.

"Now the most important thing in Paladin training is to be able to clear your mind and focus on one thing, Voltron. Everything else has to fade away. This technique is essential every time you form Voltron. So, relax and open your mind. No walls, no secrets between Paladins."

I relaxed my mind, but an image of my parents came to mind. I missed them very much and the thought of never seeing them again made me want to hide in a dark hole and cry. I pushed my sadness aside and concentrated on summoning of my lion.

"Now, focus on forming your lion, bring your minds together and form Voltron. Keep your minds together and work together."

I could feel the other's minds and see what they were thinking. I touched their minds briefly and imagined forming Voltron.

"Pidge! Stop thinking about your girlfriend!" Keith's loud complaining broke my concentration.

"I wasn't! Hunk was rooting around in my head." Pidge shot back.

"I-I thought we were all open. You can look in my head hole." Hunk replied innocently.

"Everyone has to be able to look at everyone's head holes. Clear your minds!" Coran was becoming irritated.

I closed my eyes once again and followed the same process as before. I lightly touched the other's mind and imagined my lion once again. I felt how our minds came together to form Voltron, everything was going well...

"Pidge!" Lance exclaimed.

Pidge lost his concentration and his lion's hologram disappeared.

He stood up in anger and threw the mind headset on the floor.

"I'm done with this! Look, I don't like the fact that everyone can look inside my head!" He said crossing his arms.

"Pidge, I know it's hard to open up your mind to others, but we must try if we are to form Voltron. As one unit we must think together as one." I tried to reason with him.

"I'm just... just tired ok." He said with a pout.

He must have a reason why he does not want us to see in his mind. I thought trying to figure him out, something was different about this boy.

"Ok, how about we take a break?" Shiro suggested, I let out a sigh.

Coran brought us some water drinking packets as we sat down on the floor trying to relax. Allura walked in with the mice on her shoulders.

"What are you doing lying around? You're supposed to be training." She scolded.

 _Trying to relax. Emphasis on trying._ I thought running a hand through my hair in annoyance.

I looked at her with an expressionless face.

"They have been working hard since the last time you saw them. You can't push them too hard." Coran explains to her.

"What do you mean can't push too hard? Get up you lazy lumps! Its time you faced the gladiator." She commanded.

"Well at least that's something I'm good at" I said to myself standing up, Keith gave me a look. I remembered that Keith had already seen me fight.

"In order to defeat the gladiator, six Paladins must work as one." Coran told us.

On cue, the gladiator dropped in on the center of our circle. It looked around and set its eye on Hunk. Hunk tried to shoot it, but it moved to quickly and knocked him down, the gladiator brought its bow staff down and gave him an electric shock. Pidge went up to it to try to defend his friends but in two ticks he was down. At this point my bayard turned into a sword, I started to circle around like a hunter does with its prey. Lance tried to shoot at it but got his gun knocked out of his hands. The gladiator spun around and hit him on the stomach and head knocking him out. Shiro was up next, his robotic arm started to glow purple, he was about to attack when he froze just like when we infiltrated the Galra ship. Keith saw this and jumped in front of him to block the gladiator's attack. Their weapons clashed with a loud ring throughout the room.

"Shiro! What's Wrong?!" Keith asked but he was cut short when the gladiator used that distraction to swing its bow staff across his legs and kicked him to the side knocking Lance off his feet. Shiro was still frozen in place. I jumped to block his blow and we started to fight. Blow after blow I blocked and moved our fighting toward the center of the training room, away from Shiro. I found an opening in the gladiator's right side and jumped kicked him. It lost its valance and I knocked its bow staff from its hands before it could recover. I gave my final blow too quick for it to comprehend across its chest. I heard how it fell to the ground with a load clang. I turned around to look at it and saw that it had been deactivated.

"That gladiator was set at a level for an Altean child. You're not even close to working as a team, let alone face Zarkon. Taylin took it down on her own in less than ten ticks." Allura said getting a groan from the others.

We went into the dining room to finally get something to eat. I sat down at the far end corner, everyone else followed.

"Well that all aside, I've whipped up some brain food for you all." I looked at the plate of green goo in front of me hungrily since my stomach remembered I had not eaten anything since earlier that morning.

"Smells great Coran." Shiro complimented him with a smile. I was about to reach for my spoon when something wrapped around my wrists and pulled me back. I looked to my right and saw that my wrist was handcuffed to Shiro's left arm and my left was attached to the empty chair next to me.

"Hold the phone!" Lance exclaimed seen as everyone was handcuffed to each other as well.

"I've seen a lot of solid individual work today. You still need to work as a team, so welcome to the final team bonding exercise of the day." Coran said with a smirk.

I tried to pull my arm away from Shiro's, but it was quickly pulled back like a magnet. I looked up at Shiro with a nervous grin, my face once again started to heat up.

 _Oh, not right now! When he is right here!_ I scolded myself.

"Coran, I want you to think about what you're doing." Hunk glared at him.

"Oh, this one's a classic, you're going to have to feed each other like a pack of Yalmors!" Everyone gasped in shock, I was starting to get irritated.

"Coran you could have at least handcuffed me to the pretty lady over there." Lance said nodding at me with his head.

I just frowned at his comment and growled.

We started to eat, I lifted my right hand, reached for my spoon brining Shiro's arm with me. He just gave me a small smile and let me take control of where his left arm would go. The others did not have much luck, they started to argue with each other, soon hands were placed in each other's plates a making a mess. I admired how calm Shiro was even with all the chaos in the room. Allura had walked in shortly and was eating on the other side of the table. She seemed annoyed at their bickering.

"Do you Earthlings ever stop complaining?" She growled at them.

This comment irritated Shiro, "Can't you just give us a break? everyone's been working really hard today."

Keith stood up "Yeah! We're not some prisoners for you to toy with like some..." he took a moment to find the right word, but Lance beat him to it.

"Like a bunch of toy prisoners!" He exclaimed.

"Yes! Thank you... Lance." Keith muttered.

 _Wow they agreed with each other._

"You do not yell at the princess!" Coran shouted back.

"Oh, the princess of what?! We're the only ones out here and she's no princess of ours-!" She sassed but what cut short, Allura had used her spoon like a catapult and launched goo onto his face. Keith growled.

"Go loose Pidge!" He said throwing his plate filled with goo at Allura. Coran jumped in front of her and caught Keith's plate, only to throw it back at us.

"Oh, it's on now!" Hunk said and pressed his face to his plate to absorb the goo, he lifted his face and spat all over Coran and Allura. I this point I was fighting really hard not to laugh at their expressions. Soon it turned to a full-on food fight. I grabbed my plate and threw its contents at Allura.

"Pay back!" I yelled.

The goo hit her straight on the face. I began to laugh at her expression and soon everyone did as well. Food flew back and forth. Allura tried to hit me with some goo but Shiro stepped in front of me and took a hit for me on his back.

"Thank you!" I said with a laugh, he started laughing with me. I used this opportunity to grab some more goo.

"On the count of three turn around 1, 2, 3!" And he turned, I hit Coran in the face.

Soon the goo was finished, and the room settled down. We looked at each other, at the mess we had made and started to laugh. Shiro turned to look at me with his hair covered in goo, I could not help but to laugh at him.

"Enough!" We all stopped laughing at once. Allura was sitting in her chair with her head down. I suddenly felt bad for hitting her with the goo, but I needed to get revenge for shooting at us with the castle. She lifted her face, but her eyes did not show sadness but sparkled with excitement.

"Don't you see what you're doing, you're finally working as one!" She exclaimed.

"Hey she's right." Keith said.

"I actually don't hate you right now." Lance said to him.

"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Hunk said with a smirk on his face.

"Let's go form Voltron!" Shiro suggested.

"Yes!" I second him.

"Actually, I was thinking more of dessert but yeah! Let's go form Voltron!" Hunk raised his hands which caused everyone to lose valance and fall. Coran unattached us and we all ran into our tunnels. We exited the castle with our lions and suddenly I felt that familiar tingle. We flew up in a V shape, my lion followed after Black. They stared to transform and soon after that we landed Voltron on the ground.

We were back in the castle and back into our regular clothes. I was wearing a white dress that crisscrossed on the front and had a gold bow on my back. The dress had revealed some of my back displaying the golden wings tattooed there. I wore my hair down, tired of having it all day in a bun.

It felt nice to sit in the lounge area, relaxing, after a long day of training. I sat next to Lance and Shiro. I felt so alive after the training and finally forming Voltron.

"I'm so charged up, I don't know if I'm going to be able to sleep tonight." Lance said.

"Not me, when my head hits the pillow I'm going to be lights out." Keith commented.

Lanced turned to me "How about you beautiful, I lost my blanket. Maybe we can keep each other warm?"

"Oh no worries, we can always find you a replacement." I said with a smirk, everyone laughed.

"Ouch" Pidge said.

"Good one Tay." Hunk laughed.

I winked at him with a smile.

"You know, when we are in Voltron, we are like brothers man." Hunk said hugging Lance and Keith.

"So, I'm a brother now" I said with a laugh.

"I mean... like brothers and a sister." He said quickly added.

"We're like totally connected, no secrets, no barriers, no nothing. I love you guys." Hunk continued hugging them making them uncomfortable.

"G-forces mess with you head?" Keith asked.

"Yeah maybe a little, it's been a tough few days." He retorted letting them go.

We all decided to head to our rooms.

"You coming Pidge?" Shiro asked.

"In a minute"

I walked out and headed to my room wanting nothing more than to lay down. The energy I had earlier has passed away but still left a good feeling in my heart. I was about to reach my room when I heard foot steps behind me, I thought nothing of it and kept on walking.

"Taylin" Shiro's voiced stopped me, I turned my profile to the side.

"Hey, Shiro what going on?"

He reached me and scratched the back of his head with his right arm.

"I wanted to thank you for what you did back in the training room, you saved me from the gladiator."

"It was no problem, after all, we are team mates and we have to look out for one another."

He let his arm fall to his side.

"Yeah. Team mates" he said with a small laugh.

"How are you feeling? You have frozen up twice already, is something the matter?"

"I-I been having flashbacks of my time when I was prisoner of the Galra. I guess when I see or experience certain things, my memories resurface."

"It will pass, I know how you feel. I did not lose my memory but my time as a prisoner did haunt me for quite some time." I finished in thought.

"Wait, you were a prisoner of the Galra too" he said surprised.

"Yes, it was... well now more that 10,000 years ago, I was careless, and got captured by their forces."

He looked at me with sympathy "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

I placed my left hand on his bicep, for some reason I felt the need to change the sadness clearly seen in his eyes.

"You don't have to worry about me, the past is the past. I can do anything to change it." I reassured him.

"Well we must get to rest, I'll see you in the morning. Good night." I left my arm fall.

"Goodnight Taylin."

I walked into my room, changed and went to bed. As I was falling asleep, my mind wondered thinking random thoughts about my family and friends but as I drifted off an image of the least expected person appeared in my head, Shiro.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **Return of The Gladiator**

We had all woken up early to start a big day of training, again. It's been a tough couple of weeks, but we had managed to bond even more with each other. Forming Voltron became a problem of the past being able to do it on the first try.

We were now headed to the dining area to get some breakfast, as the humans call it. Everyone was really energized after our training and the feeling of aliveness was still present in me.

"Great job training guys, I think we're really starting to get the hand of this Voltron thing!" Shiro complimented us with a smile as we walked in.

"Yeah! Did you see that kick I did on that broken enemy ship? Ha! I must have sent it flying like a mile away." Lance said with a cocky grin.

"Yeah that could come in handy if the Galra ever challenge Voltron to a soccer match." Lance frowned at his comment and Keith just looked annoyed.

"Hey! I did something cool and you can handle it. Besides I bet Taylin here thought it was pretty cool." He changed from being annoyed to plastering a smirk on his face.

"Your kick knocked us out of balance. We fell, and don't drag anybody else into this." Keith shot back.

"Are you Taylin? I did not think so. So, let the beautiful girl answer for herself!"

"The only thing that your kick gave me, was whiplash." I said rolling my eyes at him and went to take a seat.

Keith gave a small smile at my comment while Lance looked defeated with his shoulders slumped.

"Uhhh, the falling part was Hunk's fault." He quickly tried to fix the situation, but I just ignored him.

"Hey!" Hunk defended himself while pulling off his helmet with a bit of difficulty.

"Alright! Save your energy for fighting Zarkon." Shiro ended their fighting.

The door to the kitchen opened and Coran walked in with a covered plate in his right hand.

"Ahoy young Paladins! How was the Voltron work out?" He asked.

"We're getting there. Have you and Allura fixed the castle so that we can get out of here? I feel like we're sitting ducks here." Shiro asked him.

"Just about, in the meantime while you're worried about does duck seats, I've prepared an ancient authentic Paladin lunch."

We looked at the plate hungrily as Coran uncovered it but it was not what we were expecting. Everyone recoiled when the smell hit their noses, I having a strong sense of smell stood up quickly and hid behind my chair. It looked like a green blob with yellow tubes and for some reason it looked alive still.

"What is that Coran!?" I asked from behind the chair.

"Coran, you just got me hooked to that goo and now you're switching it up?" Hunk complained with me.

"This is packed with nutrients." Coran replied.

"I seen healthy and it does not look like that, there is no way in this entire universe I will eat that." I said with a sweat drop on my forehead.

"Urgh and that smells disgusting." Hunk added.

"I know, that's how you know it's healthy Taylin." He said exited but I just looked at him with my head moving side to side.

"Coran, we're on a planet full of fresh herbs and spices and whatever this thing is, a tuber?" Hunk said holding a strange plant.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to the kitchen to spice things up a bit." Hunk finished exiting the dining room.

Shiro looked away from the disgusting blob to Coran.

"Where's Pidge?"

"He's probably checking on those prisoners we rescued from Zarkon. They should be waking up from the healing pods any time now." Coran said.

Shiro stood up since there was nothing to eat and started to leave but Coran had other plans.

"Open the hatch, food lion coming in." He said trying to feed Shiro some of that disgusting food with a spoon.

Shiro turn his face away with disgust.

"Run while you still can" I whispered.

"No. Just no." Shiro told Coran avoiding the weird food and left.

After being reject by Shiro, Coran came after me, I ran to the other side of the table.

Thank the ancients, Hunk came back and interrupted his feeding technique.

He placed three big bowls of food in front of us, it smelled delightful. I grabbed my share before the boys could scarf it down and not too lady like ether.

"Hunk this is divine!" I said taking another bite.

Hunk scratched his head and a small blush appeared on his cheeks.

"Oh, it was nothing."

I was so concentrated on my food that I did not notice Allura come in.

"They like the Paladin Lunch."

"I don't want to talk about it." Coran crossed his arms with a pout.

"I've just got the final nebulon booster working, we should be able to leave this planet tomorrow and take the fight to Zarkon."

I was about to comment on her accomplishment when the castle's alarm system began to ring.

Allura quickly turned on the screen to reveal a small horned creature approaching the castle's entrance.

"What is that?" Keith asked.

"I'm not really sure, maybe it's a local Arusian? He's approaching the castle." Allura said.

The creature kept giving a battle cry and hide behind a bush ever so often, getting close to the main entrance.

"Doesn't look too dangerous." Lanced stated.

"We don't know for sure." Keith said summoning his bayard.

"No! Alteans believe in peace first. Let's go welcome it." Allura said.

"Allura is right, let go." I beckoned them with my hand.

"That's adorable." Hunk said.

"Hey, maybe we can knit him a little sweater." Lance suggested to Hunk.

"I'm not taking any chances." Keith ran out with bayard in hand.

We made it to the castle's main entrance and exited the castle. I sensed the creature was in the nearby bush and nodded with my head at Allura. We went to stand in front of the creature still hiding.

"Greetings, I know you're there. You can come out, we won't hurt you." Allura said trying to sooth him into coming out but he kept hidden. She turned to me with a slight frown. I sighed and placed my hands on my knees brining my head down to its level.

"I promise we won't hurt you, we just want to know who you are, that is all." I said with the kindest voice I could muster.

It seemed to have worked and he jumped from the bush with his small sword pointed at me. Keith immediately pushed me behind him ready to fight to creature.

"Hey! Drop your weapon!" He demanded.

"Nobody takes Klyzap's weapon!" The creature said pointing his sword at him.

"Keith wait, don't provoke." I told him placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Please put your bayard away." I walked around him to place myself closer to the creature. Klyzap understood that we meant no harm to him and lowered his weapon.

"I am Klyzap, bravest of our warriors. Our village is just beyond those hills. I have come seeking answers as to why the Lion Goddess is angry with her followers." He said pointing behind him.

"Followers?" Coran said confused.

"Lion goddess?" Hunk joined.

Klyzap saw our confused faces and pointed at a stone behind him that had a drawing of a goddess.

"The one the ancients spoke of"

Looking at it more closely the goddess had a lion head with wings coming out of its back. At her feet, creatures that looked like Klyzap were worshipping her.

"What makes you think she's angered?" Allura asked.

"Destruction is everywhere. In the past few suns, fire has rained from the heavens and a giant has danced in the sky." He explained.

"Psst, I think he's talking about Voltron." Hunk whispered loudly.

"Ya think." Lance retorted.

"You have not angered the Lion Goddess." Allura reassured.

"How can you be certain?" Klyzap said confused.

"I am Allura and this is Queen Fireheart, we live in this castle."

I turned my head quickly after her comment, she had a slight grin on her face.

 _Seriously Allura._ I thought giving her an annoyed look.

I gave the Arusian an expressionless look and Klyzap bowed down at my feet.

"Ah! Lion Goddess!"

I did not know what to do, seeing this, Allura answered for me.

"Please brave warrior, take us to your village so that we can clear this misunderstanding."

"What about our mission to get off this planet?" Keith asked.

"Part of a Paladin's mission is to spread peace and diplomacy. Arius have been our home for 10,000 years; these people deserve our thanks." Allura finished.

She went quickly into the castle to change into her space suit, when she came out, I walked beside her to White's hangar.

"Why did you have to say I was the Lion Goddess?!" I hissed at her.

"Well you are the only one with wings here. The picture on the stone looked like it had wings."

I gave her a "really look" and she just smiled at me and gave me a side hug.

"Come on Taylin, lighten up."

I could not stay mad at her and a grin slowly formed on my face. I looked back at her and we both started to laugh.

"Me a goddess" I said between a laugh.

When we arrived at Klyzap's village we landed our lions on the out skirts of the village. The people were very friendly to us, they began to bow down where I passed. Klyzap took us toward the center of his village where their king was waiting for us.

"Oh, Lion Goddess, please forgive us as we perform our traditional dance of apology. As an anointment for our wrong doings."

I small Arusian girl came out from the crowd and began to dance in front of us.

"This is really isn't necessary." I told them really awkwardly.

"Halt!" The kings said, and the dancing girl froze in place.

"The Goddess has refused the apology, start the sacrificial fire, we must throw ourselves in!" My eyes widen at the king's instructions. I looked up to see someone was about to get thrown in the fire. I used my elemental shifting abilities and quenched the fire, everyone looked at me in awe at what they had seen.

"N-No! No sacrifices! There's no need to do that!" I exclaimed.

"Then we shall proceed with the dance?"

"That would be a better alternative."

The Arusian girl began to dance as well, I felt relieved that I was able to save that poor soul from burning. I felt someone place a hand on my left shoulder and looked there way. It was Allura and she gave me a smile before returning her gaze at the dance. The danced finished and we promised the Arusians that Voltron would protect them if they ever were in need of help. They jumped with happiness at this realization as they came up to us and started giving us hugs. I caught two little Arusian girls in my arms, they were fascinated by my crown.

"How did you control the fire?" One of the little girls asked me.

"I was born with that ability." I told her with a smile and patted her head.

She reached out from behind her back shyly and present a flower to me.

"Is this for me?"

"Yes, I want you to have it so that you can remember me." She said looking at the ground.

"I would be honored." I told her lifting her chin up with my right hand and she gave me a wide smile.

I placed my helmet back on so that I could be able to carry the two girls easily.

I was about to reach for them when Shiro's panicked voice came through my helmet sending chills down my back.

"Team! Team come in! We need back up now!"

"Shiro! What's happening? Are you ok?!" I asked alarmed.

Keith walked up to me, seen as I had become frozen in place.

"What's going on?" He asked me.

That was soon answered when the ground began to shake violently when something broke through the Arusian atmosphere and crashed. My instincts took over.

"Everyone get to your lions now! Allura get this people to safety!" I shouted at the others.

All the Arusians started to run, in the crowed, I saw Hunk amongst them.

"Not you!" Keith grabbed Hunk by his collar and dragged him back.

I got to my lion quickly; as if it knew my distress it took off before I could touch the handles. I saw the Black and Green Lions protecting their Paladins.

"We need to provide covering fire, so they can mobilize." I instructed.

Everyone started to fire at the monster, I pushed my lion's right handle forward with force and it shot a laser through its jaws. I saw the Black and Green Lions take off.

"Are you ok?" I asked concerned.

"Still alive." Shiro responded, I let out a breath I had been holding.

"Are the Galra behind this?" Hunk asked.

"Most likely, but I've never seen anything like this." Shiro said.

"So, what's the plan of attack? Shoot at it with everything we got? Take out its weapons? Call it names?" Lanced asked a little panicky.

"If we want to take this monster down, there's only one way to do it." Shiro hinted.

We united our minds and formed Voltron, landing in front of the robotic beast.

"Remember, we are one unit fighting for one goal." Shiro said.

The monster tried to hit us with its purple orb, but we successfully dodged it. We went for a punch, but suddenly were hit from behind. We recovered from the blow, but the orb was already on its way again hitting one more time.

"I thought Voltron was the most powerful weapon in the universe!" Keith complained.

"Yeah, so how is this monster kicking our butts?!" Hunk complained.

I flew Voltron in the opposite direction dodging the orb, when I turned it around the monster punched Voltron in the chest. I screamed at the sudden impact that almost threw me off my seat.

"Taylin! You ok!?" Shiro cried out.

"Yes... I believe so." I answered breathing heavily.

I turned to look at my screen and I saw the monster coming for another hit with the orb.

"Watch-" I was too late to warn, the orb hit us causing us to fall on a mountain overlooking the Arusian village. I took control and lifted Voltron up before we could fall on the village and flew in the opposite direction with the monster hot on our trail.

"We got it away from the village, but we still need a plan to defeat it." Pidge said.

"I know! I'm going to power kick that orb." Lance suddenly said.

"No! The last time you did a kick we fell." Keith shot back angrily.

"Oh, stop living in the past!" Lance said moving Voltron in position. He made us jump up to hit the orb, but it was too quick for us and once again I took a hit. I screamed again trying to keep Voltron in valance, but we ended up falling. Shiro hearing me scream, immediately jump into action instructing the others.

"Pidge, get the lasers ready."

The boosters attached to the wings, that my lion formed, came towards the front instead forming a shield.

"No, lasers! Lasers!" Shiro cried.

The monster used our distraction to punch us again and getting hit by its orb as well nocking us down.

"Every time we focus on the orb, we're blind sighted by the monster. And every time we focus on the monster the orb hit us!" Hunk said and on cue the orb hit.

"Shiro, we gotta move. Shiro are you there? Shiro!" Keith called out to him.

 _Oh no._ I thought as I began to worry about Shiro freezing up again.

"Shiro listen to me. We need you, I need you, please snap out of it." I said with desperation.

A few ticks passed by.

"That sound... I recognize this monster from my time in Zarkon's prison. I know how to beat it!" Shiro's voice came back. "Listen up! There's a loud sound when the orb returns to the base of the weapon. And every third time that orb needs to charge up, that's this monster's weakest point and that's when we strike."

"Ok, so what do we now?" Hunk asked.

"Defense!"

Pidge raised the shield before it hit again, blocking its attack. The force of the impact pushed us back. On the third time the orb hit us, the shield disbanded, and Keith shot at it causing it to lose valance but as quickly as we had done this, it recovered and started its attack over again.

"It didn't work!" Pidge exclaimed.

"I don't think we can take another hit!" I said with fear in my gut. I had just finished my comment when we took a hit.

"When I battled with it, I had a sword." Shiro said.

"Where are we going to get a sword!?" I asked him as we got hit again.

"Wait a second guys, I think my lion's telling what to do." Keith's voice came in.

"Well whatever it is, better do it fast! He's about to fire his third shot." Lance said.

The orb once again was headed in our direction, it hit, knocking us to the ground. I watched in horror as the monster jumped up to give its final blow. I felt how a wave of energy went through me and a large sword appeared in the Red Lion's jaws. The sword slashed through the monster and we heard how it exploded and fell to the ground, much like I had done with the gladiator in the training room.

"Amazing! How did you do that?" I asked quickly recovering from my distress.

I heard him chuckle and thank his lion.

We were back in the castle to see off the people Shiro and Pidge has rescued from Sendak's ship. I changed out of my Paladin armor and went for a walk around the castle. I decided to head to the main entrance to watch the sun set but when I arrived, I saw the most touching scene. Pidge was hugging Shiro, I decided to not intrude and went back inside.

 _He has a big heart_.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **Fall of The Castle of Lions**

After the fight with the robotic monster, Allura thought it would be a great idea to invite the Arusians to the castle for a gathering. I agreed with her, this people needed something to get their minds off of today's event. Allura came up to me and told me to wear something nice, like if she really has to tell me that.

"A goddess must always look divine!" She exclaimed sarcastically with a teasing smirk.

I went into my room to get changed. I chose a light blue strapless sweet heart dress that ruffled all the way to the floor. The tail trailed behind me, but the front of the dress stopped a little higher than my knees. I placed my silver heels on that crisscrossed up front. I went to my mirror and put my hair in an elegant up do, placed my crown into place, added silver make up to my eyes for a dramatic effect, and adorned my neck with the tear drop necklace that my mother had given me. I placed my hand on the pendant, remembering the time she gave me this present. I was three. She told me that the necklace was passed through generations and it was my turn to ware it. I heard a knock on my door and let the pendant fall. Allura was waiting for me.

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"You look great!" She said exited.

"Come on the Arusians are waiting for us." She said grabbing my hand and pulling me out.

We reached the top of the stairs, the Arusians began to cheer when they saw us.

The Arusian king insisted on creating a play of our battle, I had no choice but to put on a smile and comply. They reenacted our battle with the monster and suddenly what was supposed to be Voltron fell.

"I said Voltron was victorious!" The king scolded, they quickly stood up.

"Thanks, your majesty for that wonderful production." Allura complimented them choosing her words carefully.

"It is with a heavy heart that we must leave your planet but let it be known that Voltron will fight for freedom!" I exclaimed causing all the Arusians to cheer. Allura gave the King a communicator for him to contact us if they are ever in any trouble, he took it with a wide smile.

Everyone began to socialize, talking and laughing amongst themselves. From the top of the stairs, I noticed the little Arusian girl that had given me a flower earlier. I decided to make my way down the stairs earning some stares from the people around me, but I ignored them, I reached her, and she smiled up to me.

"You look so pretty." she complimented me with a shy smile.

"Thank you, you are beautiful from the inside and out, don't let anyone every tell you otherwise." She looked at me with sparkling blue eyes.

"Oh, and I have a present for you as well." this made her perk up and hug my legs.

I untangled myself from her embrace slowly and kneeled down, I drew on my power and from my right palm a beautiful white flower started to materialize. She looked at the flower with awe until it was fully grown.

"This is for you." I placed it by her left horn. I wrapped the steam around it, so it would stay in place.

"Thank you." she said giving me a hug.

She let go of me and ran to her friends showing them what the "Lion Goddess" had given her.

I looked around and saw my fellow Paladins talking to each other. Lance, Keith, and Hunk were talking, I walked up to them to greet them.

"Hey, how do you guys like the gathering?"

"Mama...mia!" Lance exclaimed turning to look at me with his mouth hanging open.

"I gotta say Taylin you... you look very nice this evening." He said with a blush and scratched his head.

"Why thank you Lance." I said with a smile and made him blush deeper.

I turned to my right and saw Shiro leaning against the wall by the entrance the castle. He seemed on edge and did not look too happy to see the front entrance wide open. I saw Coran go up to him and their conversation ended when he suddenly pushed off the wall and left headed outside.

Curiosity took over me and I decided to follow him. I said farewell to the other Paladins and made my way toward the entrance. I looked up and saw Allura having a conversation with her mice, she saw me and waved, I gave her a smile and continued toward my goal. I stepped outside, the sun was already tucked in the for the night covering everything with a blanket of black and the air around me became chilly. Thousands of stars where visible, I watched amazed as a shooting star passed by. Shiro stood further down with his back to me, I made my way towards him. He heard my foot steps and turned around.

"I saw you leave, it something the matter?" I asked him.

"I guess I'm just a little paranoid after what happened today, it's nothing really."

I stood to his left and looked at the sky.

"It's hard to believe there are millions of stars out there." I told him quietly.

I hugged myself as a light gust of wind blew by, bringing a chill to my uncovered shoulders.

"Yeah I never imagined I would explore the universe or that one day I would pilot a giant mechanical lion." He responded with a chuckle looking up as well.

"Yeah, me ether."

I turned to look at him gazing at the stars and saw them reflected in his eyes. Something inside of me changed but I did not know what it was. I had never experience this feeling, is as if somehow, I was afraid to lose something.

 _This strange feeling..._ I began to ponder but decided against it.

"Hey, I never apologized for nocking you down when I awoke from the pod." I side with a smirk.

He chuckled, "It's alright, you didn't know who I was... I guess I would have done the same. But what made you stop your punch?"

"I don't know, I think I was waiting on you to try to attack me." I said confused.

"Well thanks for not punching my face." He smiled down at me.

We locked eyes for a few ticks before Pidge broke our gaze.

"Shiro, I need to talk to you."

He was carrying a bag on his back, something seemed to be troubling him.

"What is it?"

" I need to talk to everyone together."

"Ok, let's head back inside and get the others." He said.

He began to walk back, I followed after them.

 _I wonder what he has to say... maybe it has to do with something he did not want us to see in his mind when we did the exercise._ I thought trying to figure out what Pidge wanted to tell us. Ever since I met him, I have been trying to figure him. I came to the conclusion that he is hiding something, but I did not want to intrude in his mind to find out. I had a good idea of what it was, but I needed solid proof.

I used my mind to find the familiar minds of my fellow Paladins and found Keith, Hunk, and Allura.

 _"Please come to the side hallway close to the entrance."_ I told them.

 _"Oh my god! Why is Taylin's voice in my head."_ Hunk thought surprised.

 _"Relax Hunk, I'm talking to you with my mind. Please come see us."_

I cut the connection before he could ask more questions. I really did not feel like answering how I could talk to people with my mind.

Pidge, Shiro and I waited for the others and we soon saw them heading towards us.

"So, Pidge what is what you wanted to tell us?" I asked him.

Allura seemed really upset about something.

"I'm leaving Team Voltron." He dropped the bomb on us.

"Wait what?" I asked shocked.

"I have a lead in where my family could be, and I want to follow it."

"You can't leave! If you leave we can't form Voltron" Keith exclaimed angrily.

"Keith is right. Who would take your place?" I asked with concerned.

"You're putting the lives everyone at stake here for two people. We all have families, this Arusians have families, everyone in the entire universe has families!" Keith continued his rant.

"That's enough Keith, that is not how a team works. One must want to be a part of it." Shiro scolded and looked at Pidge.

"We respect your decision if you wish to leave but I ask you to please reconsider." He pleaded.

"I am sorry, but you're going to have to find someone else to pilot the Green Lion." He said sadly.

Suddenly an explosion shook the whole castle, I reached with my mind and found the faint mind of Lance. Everyone was still recovering from the shock, I took the initiative and ran towards the control room. Not easy in heals I assure you but I ran as fast as I could and arrived at the scene. I saw the castle's main crystal missing from the sealing and smoke filled the room. I searched with my eyes and found Coran laying on the ground.

"Coran! What happened?!"

I reached for him and helped him get back on his feet.

"I don't know there was suddenly and explosion." he said holding his head.

 _The faint mind..._

"Lance!" I exclaimed.

I looked deeper into the room and found him. Shiro ran to him and lifted his head, he looked to be unconscious.

"Lance? Lance!" Shiro shook him, but he did not respond.

"We have to get him into the infirmary!" Pidge exclaimed.

"We can't, the crystal's been broken." Allura said pointing at it on the floor shattered to a million pieces.

"Without the crystal, the castle has no power." And realization dawned on me.

 _How are we going to save Lance?_

"Lion warriors!" The Arusian King broke my thought. We turned to look at him, he looked out of breath.

"Our village is under attack! We need help!" He said with desperation.

"Let's get to our lions!' Keith said.

"You can't, they are sealed in their hangers. There's no way to get them out, we are defenseless." Allura said.

"Will you not help us?!" The King asked us.

"This is bad." Hunk said.

His comment snapped me out, I ran towards Shiro and Lance. I placed my hand on his forehead and my palm started to glow white.

"What are you doing?" Shiro asked me shocked.

"I am trying to stabilize him, lending him my energy. I cannot heal him completely without the help of my Drako."

I concentrated in feeding my energy into him and was able to stabilize his condition.

"We have to get a new crystal in order to get the castle operational, but we'll need a ship." Coran said.

"We can use the pod I was loading! I left the bay doors open." Pidge exclaimed.

"Good, I can use its scanner to see if there's a Balmera nearby. Hunk, you'll come with me. I need someone big and strong to help me load the crystal." Coran said forming a plan quickly.

"A Balmera?" Hunk asked confused.

"It's where the crystals come from, I'll explain on the way." Coran answered dragging him away.

"I'll go see what's happening in the village." Keith said.

"I'll come too. I brought this on the poor Arusians." Allura said.

"I'll stay here to tend to Lance and watch over the castle." Shiro added.

"I will stay as well, I am the only one who can keep Lance stabilized."

Allura nodded at me and ran out of the control room with Keith.

Shiro began to pick Lance up from the ground and placed him over his shoulder. I looked down and removed my heals going barefoot. I realized that if I needed to run or fight this would be more practical. I threw them in a corner and Shiro looked at me.

"Ready?"

"Yes, let's go."

"Hang on buddy, help is on the way." Shiro whispered to Lance.

We thought it would be best to bring Lance to the infirmary. As we walked through the castle everything was in total darkness. I created a ball of light to guide our way, it hung just above our heads. I saw Shiro amazed at what I had just did but didn't comment on it. As we looked ahead, we saw silhouettes coming our way. We soon realized that these were Galra solders.

"Sendak" Shiro hissed.

He placed Lance on the side of the hallway and got ready to fight.

"Taylin stay and protect Lance." He ordered.

"You cannot possibly fend them all yourself." I shot back.

"Please" he pleaded giving me an anxious look, I nodded giving in.

Shiro took his stance blocking access to us on the bridge.

"Stand aside" Sendak said coldly.

"No. You're not getting in!" Shiro's right arm began to glow purple and Sendak attacked him with his prosthetic hand, much larger than Shiro's. He grabbed a hold of him and brought him closer to him. Shiro was able to get away and both went in for a punch. Their fists met head on causing a load nose.

"I see you've spend some time with the druids, they do love to experiment. Too bad you didn't get the latest model." He mocked, and his fist flew out of his arm and sent Shiro flying back to where I was kneeling down.

"Shiro!" I screamed and crawled to his side. He looked really hurt and at seeing his injuries, something inside of me snapped. With a quick moment of my right arm, I send a strong gust of wind towards them nocking a few of Sendak's troops. I stood up with determination ready to fight him.

"Wait Taylin! Don't do it!" Shiro yelled from behind me, but I ignored him.

I send another gust of wind through the hallway putting as much force as I could. Sendak tried to do the same thing as he did to Shiro with his giant mechanical fist. It came clawing at me with a purple glow. I used a gust to help me jump out of the way, I back flipped into the air landing on my feet once again. I growled at him and created a twister that ripped apart some of the sentries that started to fire at me. I got too concentrated in taking down the sentries surrounding me, that I left my back exposed for an attack. Sendak saw this and punched me, sending me flying and hitting the ground hard.

"Taylin!" I heard Shiro yelling my name. I opened my eyes, but my vision was hazy. I heard Shiro screaming in anger and saw his silhouette running towards Sendak. I could not hold my eyes open any longer and I blacked out.

I was flying over the mountains of Negetia on my Drako's back. His dark blue scales sparkled in the sun creating rainbows; I was always so fascinated by them. I felt so at peace with myself and content. He began to fly closer to the water and I saw my reflection. I looked, and my crown sparkled back at me. I was wearing my queen attire and had dark eyeshadow that made me look fearless.

 _"Taylin, you must wake up. You do not belong here."_ A familiar voice told me.

Suddenly everything around me vanished into black and I opened my eyes. I saw Shiro in front of me kneeling with his head down and his hands cuffed behind his back. I was laying on the floor with my hands also tied behind my back. I looked down at myself and saw my legs exposed even more than they should be. I guess during my fight with Sendak the tail of my dress was cut off. I moved a little causing my back to ache, Shiro heard me moan and looked at me.

"Taylin are you ok?" He whispered.

"My back is killing me." I whispered back, and his face became concerned.

"Hexas! Come in" I heard Sendak yell.

"Hexas is gone! And you're next!" Pidge's voice came back.

I worried about him, but I knew that he was smart enough to save us.

"You slowed me down! But this ship is mine! You will turn yourself over to me immediately." Sendak threaten but Pidge refused.

"Well then maybe your leader can convince you." He said turning around to look at us.

"Or perhaps the beautiful Queen of the Drakie." He said with a smirk, he placed his hand on my throat and lifted me up to eye level.

He grinned at me, I turned my face away in disgust.

"Let her go!" Shiro retaliated trying to get his hands free.

He let me go and I fell to the ground gasping for air, he then took a step towards Shiro.

"What do you want?" Shiro asked angrily.

"Your friend wanted to hear from you." Sendak gave him an evil grin activating his claw like hand.

Shiro's eyes widened "Pidge! Whatever you do, don't-" he was cut off by Sendak who electrocuted him with his hand. He gave the most agonizing scream, I felt that same fire I felt before and without hesitation I moved towards Shiro pushing him out of the way. This caused Sendak to lose hold of him and I received the shock. I tried not to scream. I did not want to show him any type of weakens but a whimper slipped out. The pain was too much to bare.

"Taylin!" I heard Shiro call and Sendak let me fall to the ground with an evil grin on his face.

"Well, well what do we have here. The powerful Queen of the Drakie cares for someone." He said evilly.

My breaths came out short as I was trying to pull myself together. I was no stranger to pain, but my body had not endured this much in a very long time.

"You!" I heard Sendak call out and saw Pidge in the door way. He went after him and suddenly Pidge was back trying to untie us but Sendak appeared again as well and struck him to the ground. I saw Sendak going to punch him and that's when I decided to put an end to this, I summoned as much energy as I could muster. I felt how my energy returned to me and my chest started to become hot like coals burning in a furnace.

"Leave...Him...Alone!" I screamed with so much rage.

My breathing increased, it came out in short gasps and I let my energy go. Suddenly my Drakie spirit left my body in a form of a golden dragon and pushed Sendak away from him allowing Pidge to recover. As soon as it had appeared it was gone leaving me with very little energy. Everything else became a blur. I heard voices, they seem familiar, but I could not place them. I felt my hands become free, but I could not comprehend what was going on. I then heard Allura's voice, the only voice that stood out from the others, since I had become so accustomed to hearing it throughout my life.

"We must get them to the infirmary" she said.

"Will she need to be placed in a pod?" Someone asked.

"No, it appears the energy she used to push Sendak off has healed her injuries. We should just place her there to keep a close eye on her."

My eyes had closed, no longer having the energy to open them. I felt the ground beneath my body disappear as someone took me in their arms. They carried me to the infirmary and placed me down gentle on a flat surface.

"She saved me."

Was the last thing I heard before the darkness consumed me.

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	6. Chapter 6

I began to regain consciousness and hear voices around me. My body seemed to have recuperated from Sendak's hits on me but what took its toll was my excessive use of energy. I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to attack with my inner spirit, it could have easily killed me, but that just the thing, I wasn't. I was blinded by my desire to save Pidge and protect Shiro from harm.

 _Shiro. How was he?_ I suddenly thought, and I felt a pit in my stomach as I remembered Sendak electrocuting him. His screams are something I will not soon forget.

I slowly opened my eyes and was blinded by the light, making me close them quickly.

"Shiro?" I crocked.

I tried again to open my eyes and I blinked couple of time to adjust to the light. I heard quick footsteps coming my way as I started to sit up. Allura came into view and pushed me back down.

"Save your strength." she said.

I groaned, my head felt as if someone had dropped a rock on it.

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"It's been a couple vargas (Hours)."

"I need to drink something." I whispered.

She disappeared from view and brought a pouch of water with a straw in her hand. Allura placed her hand behind my back and slowly brought me to a sitting position. She brought the straw to my mouth and I began to drink thirstily. I finished the pouch in three big gulps and Allura placed it to the side.

"How are you feeling?"

"A bit tired but I feel much better with the drink, thank you." I said with a small smile.

I looked down at myself and saw that my injuries had disappeared. My excessive use of power had also healed them, though my dress was beyond repair. Its once beautiful tail that followed behind me had disappeared, then I remembered something. I looked up and to my relief, Lance was in the healing pod.

"How is Lance doing?"

"He going to make a full recovery." She said placing a hand on my shoulder.

"And Shiro?"

"He is fine, the extent of his injuries was small... you healed him." She said making eye contact.

 _How could I have possible done that?_ I looked at her with disbelieve but quickly came to a conclusion.

"Well, I believe that's one of the reasons why I was so drained of energy. I manifested my spirt form and healed us both. It's the healing part that I don't understand, I never been able to do it without the help of my Drako." I said in deep thought.

"Whatever it was, it saved both of you and I am very glad to see that your fine." She said embracing me.

"Would you help me to my room, I want to take a bath and change cloths. I believe this dress is now too revealing." I joked.

"Yes of course, lean on me."

Allura helped me stand and soon I was able to stand on my own, but she still accompanied me to my room.

"Will you be alright on your own." She asked me concerned.

"Yes, I'm feeling much better."

She smiled at me and I returned it and walked into my room.

I removed the pins holding my hair and my crown. I took off what was left of my dress and put it in the disposal container. No use in keeping it, it was beyond repair.

The shower helped me relax and I felt my strength returning to me faster than I would have thought. I got out of the shower and got ready for bed to recover fully.

 _I opened my eyes and found myself kneeling down in the control room. I looked up to see the bodies of my fellow Paladins, my best friend and Coran on the floor. Some of them had their eyes opened but they looked lifeless like looking into glass. The body closes to me was Allura's, that shine that she always had in her eyes was gone and blood emanated from the corner of her mouth. Her face looked beaten and bruised and in her right hand she held the flower crystal I gave her when we were children. Suddenly, I felt a presence behind me. I looked to my right and there stood Sendak grinning at me._

 _"Look at what you have done." He said with an evil smirk._

 _"Know that you could have saved them, but you killed them, you're the monster." And his laugh echoed throughout the room, mocking me._

 _I felt my hands become lose and I placed them over my ears trying to block out his despicable laugh. My hands felt sticky and hot. I removed them slowly from my ears and brought them towards my lap, when I looked down at them, they were covered in blood._

 _I screamed in panic and tears spilled out of my eyes._

I jumped startled by what I had seen and looked around, I was back in my room. My body was trembling; I hugged the nearest pillow to myself. I took dip breaths and calmed myself. My throat had become dry and I needed something to drink to quench my thirst. I got out of bed, put on my slippers and my robe on and headed out into the dark hallway. I made my way to the kitchen and turned on the light. I grabbed one of the pouches Allura had given me earlier and took small sips. Images of that horrible dream started to come to my mind and I tried to push them back. I decided not to go back to my room but head to the dining room to sit. I walked in and was about to take another sip when I noticed that I was not alone. Shiro sat there with his head in his hand and had a pouch in front of him on the table.

"Shiro?"

He turned startled at the sound of my voice and when he saw me, he relaxed seeing it was just me.

"Taylin, what are you doing up? You should be resting." He said concerned.

"I could not sleep anymore." And made my way to sit adjacent to him.

I looked at the pouch in my hand and then looked at him.

"Me ether. I saw so many things today that have let me out of sort. Why did you do that for me?... I mean take the hit, fight Sendak..." He trailed off.

 _Of all things, he asks this._

I looked up to meet his gaze.

"I was always taught to be selfless, to protect others. I don't like inflicting pain, I like to take it away... to make it vanish. My parents taught me these things so that one day I would be able to lead my people as their Queen." I respond.

"Seems like your parents really taught you well." He said with a slight smile.

"I was a little different... you see the Drakie that is born with golden wings on his back is to be the next leader of my race. My parents wanted a child, but many years passed after their union and they could not conceive. My mother finally became pregnant and I was born making me the only hear of the king. After a few days, the wings tattooed on my back began to appear and revealed the color gold. My parents were taken back, as others, when the word spread out throughout the kingdom"

"Why?" He asked.

"Because only males had ever been born with golden wings, but I became that exception, making me the first female ever to be born with gold scales. My father trained me to become the person that my people would need someday. It was not all about manners and lady like things, he forged me into warrior. I became a very skilled fighter thanks to him. Every year since I turned five, a new element would manifest, and I would have to learn how to control it. Some of them were ruthless, almost taking over me and others easily controlled. I also developed other abilities-"

"Like healing." He finished for me.

"Yes, like healing, I got that gift from my mother. She taught my partner and I to bound our strength together in order to heal others." I said in thought as memories of my mother flooded my head.

"You have a partner?" Shiro said turning to look away from me.

"Yes. But it's not what you think, I am bonded with a Drako. As you might call it, a dragon." I cleared for him.

He returned to look at me and I saw a flash of relief in his eyes, but it quickly vanished.

"Oh" he said.

"As for what you did to Sendak in the control room?" He asked curiously.

"Oh that. I pulled all my energy to my core and manifested my spirit to attack him."

"That was your spirit?" He asked shocked.

"Well sort of, it's not like I go manifesting it all the time. It's just part of who I am…its getting late, we should really get some sleep, I don't want Allura to scold me tomorrow for falling asleep in my station." I chuckled.

I stood up and was about to leave when Shiro caught my right arm and he rose from his chair.

I turned to look at him.

"I wanted to thank you for what you did for me." He said.

"Don't worry about it, your quite welcome." I said with a smile and he let go of my arm.

I made my way to my room and got into bed. I went to sleep with a smile on my face, the horrible nightmare forgotten.

In the morning, we all headed to the infirmary to check on Lance. I came in and saw everyone stand there and Allura checking his vitals on a screen.

Pidge saw me come in.

"Your alive!" He exclaimed and ran up to me and gave me hug. Suddenly we were both lifted up when Hunk joined too.

He let us go and everyone asked me if I was ok.

"I'm fine guys, really." I assured them.

We went to stand in front of the pod Lance was in and examined him.

"I can't tell if he looks healthy or not." Hunk said.

"I think he's breathing weird." Pidge said with his face plastered on the glass.

"Oh, come on!" Keith said annoyed.

"Guys! You have to give it time." I said starting to get irritated.

"Give him a few more ticks." Allura said pushing his finger away.

"How much better do you think he's gonna get in a few more ticks?" Keith asked annoyed with her.

"And what exactly is a tick?" Pidge asked.

"You know, a time slice." Allura answered.

"You mean like a second?" Shiro asked.

"What's a second?" I asked confused.

Pidge then held out some type of device to Allura and I to show us what a second was.

"I'm not sure, I think ticks are bigger. Coran, do you have a ticker?" Allura asked.

"Right here princess." Coran said pulling out a ticker from his pocket.

We all gathered around Pidge and Coran to see.

"I think ticks are a little slower." Hunk commented.

"I can't tell, I think we have to start over at the same time." Pidge suggested.

Coran and Pidge started their clocks at the same time and we watched with fascination.

"Yes! I think we're winning." Hunk exclaimed exited.

"Winning what? The intergalactic time measuring competition?" Keith joked.

"You guys having a clock party?" I heard a familiar voice and looked back.

"Ugh Lance! You ruined-" Hunk cut himself off when he realized that Lance was out of the pod and gave him a big hug.

"What happened?" Lance asked confused once Hunk let him go.

"We can tell you later, we should get food in your system, can you walk?" I asked him.

"Walking? Eating? Are you asking me out on a date Taylin?" He said with a smirk.

"Definitely back to his old self." I muttered.

"Yup, there he is."

"Yup, he's ok"

"Classic"

"I think I clearly said "we", so we can all go on this date your talking about" I said sarcastically making everyone laugh.

He groaned.

"You'd be Sendak's prisoners right now if not for Pidge." Allura said.

"Well it was Hunk and Coran who brought back the new crystal, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to operate the healing pods. Also, Taylin saved me from Sendak with does awesome powers of hers." He said.

I turned to look at him and smiled at his comment.

"Wow, thank you guys." Lance smiled at us.

The mice had come close to his plate, he was feeding the big one.

"Sounds like the mice did more than you." He told Keith.

"I punched Sendak!" He said defensibly.

"Yeah, apparently after I rose back from a coma and blasted his arm off."

"We had a bonding moment! I cradled you in arms!" Keith said offended.

"Nope, don't remember." He said earning a glare from Keith.

"Well does that mean Shiro and Taylin had a bonding moment too. I mean afterwards there was a lot of cradling when the fight was over." Pidge said with a smirk.

 _That little kid knows something._

I thought narrowing my eyes a little. Then I looked at everyone else and my face started to heat up, Shiro looked away embarrassed.

Lance then broke the awkward silence.

"What happened to Sendak?"

"He's frozen in a crio-pod below the castle. We can't let a man like him out in space alone, besides we might be able to get some information about Zarkon from him." Allura answered.

"Wait Sendak is here!" I exclaimed angrily at Allura.

At the sound of his name images of my nightmare came back but I was no longer scared, it made me hate him even more.

"Like I said, he might be useful to us." She said.

"Well then. You might want to keep me away from the crio-pods or his going to magically disappear... in to space." I said with a darkly.

Allura just looked at me with a "really" face, I creased up my eyebrows.

"So, what's the plan now?" Pidge asked.

"We have to get back to the Balmera and save Shay and her people." Hunk said seriously.

Hunk had told us what happened during Coran's and his visit to the Balmera. Apparently, these poor people had been living under Zarkon's boot for far too long and were being used as slave labor to dig the crystals for him.

"Wow, you're really hung up on this girl." Lance said making Hunk blush a bit.

"No, it's not like that!" He responded quickly.

"Look, if you had seen how Zarkon has treated these people and destroyed their homes, you would understand. They've been under his thumb for so long, they don't even know what it means to be free. It's up to us to set things right, this is what it means to be a Paladin. It's time to man up." He said with determination.

I admired Hunk's speech and felt the need to help these people.

"Then let's get moving, time to go defend the universe." Shiro said and we all started to walk towards the dining room exit.

"Wait" Pidge stopped us, we turned to look at him.

"I have something to say first. I need to come clean and I'm afraid this would change the way you guys think about me. Just so there are no secrets between us, I can't man up. I'm a girl."

This caused Lance to have no most comical expression I had ever seen on him. He was so shocked at this revelation, I however, had my suspicions and Allura had mentioned something to me about it.

"I mean, I can man up since it's just a figure of speech, you don't actually have to be a man to man up. I just have to be tough, but what I'm saying-" she started to ramble.

"What?! You're a girl?! How?!" Lance broke out of his state of shock.

"I've known for some time, but I'm glad you shared it with everyone." Allura said.

"I knew all along, females and males have different energy patterns." I said crossing my arms with a small smile.

"Yeah, I kind of figured." Hunk said.

"Oh yeah, me too." Keith added.

"Wait, we were suppose to think you were a boy?" Coran said confused.

"Pidge, owning who you are is going to make you a better Paladin." Shiro finished.

I heard Pidge sign in relief at our acceptance to her secret and then perked up.

"Let's launch this castle ship!" she exclaimed and ran out.

We started to walk out the door leaving a once again shocked Lance.

"Wait what? Pidge is a girl and the castle's a ship?! How long have I been out?" I heard from the hallway, I couldn't help but to laugh.

We changed into our Paladin armor, finally ready to leave to make a difference in the universe. We walked in to the control room and Allura pushed a button on her screen and six seats rose up. I took my place on the upper platform behind Shiro and sat down. Allura initiated launch sequence and the castle lifted off into space leaving behind the beautiful planet of Arusia. Soon the sky disappeared, and we were met with the dark vacuum of black space adorned with many twinkling stars. We got off are seats and went to the stairs to the left of the control room. I stood next to Pidge on the stairs and she sat down.

"Ok, so when we get there, what do you think? Should we just roll up and start blasting? Or do we land and have some public address like-" Hunk rambled.

"Hunk, calm down, and yes we go in blasting." Keith joked.

"It's his first big rescue mission, he's excited." Shiro laughed.

"Exited to see his girlfriend." Pidge teased him.

"Oh, come on Hunk tell us about your "girlfriend"" I said making air quotes in the air.

"Ah! She's not my girlfriend! She's just a rock I met and admire very much." Hunk defended.

"You're in denial." I said squinting my eyes at him playfully.

The alarms in the castle turned on, making us all jump as the castle displayed a coordinates.

"Are we being attacked?" I asked Coran.

"It seems to be a distress signal." He answered.

"It's coming from a nearby moon, apparently their ship lost power." Allura added.

"Whoever it is, they can wait. Shay has first priority, we can check on them later when we're done." Hunk said with a frown.

"The Paladin code states the we must help all those in need." Allura remind him.

"She is right, well help Shay soon enough." I reassured him.

"This is so cool!" Lance jumped up.

"It's like we're space cops on space patrol. Coran, do we have a siren we can turn on?"

"Uh no, but we can record you making a siren noise and broadcast that to them." Coran suggested.

Lance smirked and began to make a siren noise.

 _Oh boy_.

I face palmed.

"No! Not doing that." Shiro stopped him by covering his mouth with his hand.

I internally thanked him.

We soon arrived on the moon that send out the distress signal and Allura landed the castle. When the castle was safely on the ground, we made our way to the castle's main entrance. We walked out and noticed a damaged ship, two people and a robot around a fire. A man began to walk toward us, his skin was purple, and he wore worn out cloths. The female stayed a bit behind, she had yellowish skin and sparkling blue eyes. The robot followed close behind the purple alien.

"It's good to see some friendly faces, most folks don't want to get tangled up with anyone who's on the run from the Galra." He said.

"You're fighting the Galra?" Keith asked.

"Well I don't think Zarkon's quaking in his boots at the three of us, but we do what we can. I'm Rolo, that's Nyma and our cyber unit Beezer." He introduced.

Lance began to flirt with Nyma, typically, and Pidge looked at Beezer with amazement.

"Was your ship damaged in a fight?" Shiro asked.

Rolo paused and spoke up, "We've really been through it with the Galra. Parts are hard to come by, but we managed to safely land on this moon a week ago and send a distress signal."

"We're happy to help, I am Princess Allura of Altea and from now on you won't be alone fighting the Galra. You'll have the Paladins of Voltron by your side." she said and Rolo gave us a confused look.

"I don't think they heard of us." I whispered.

"Well it has been 10,000 years." Keith said.

"Voltron. You know, six giant robotic lions come together and form an even bigger fighting robot that kicks alien butt." Lance explained to Nyma with a smirk.

"Well I would like to see it...him...them." Rolo trailed off.

"Why don't we just get to work on you ship? I'm sure we all have places to be." Hunk said impatiently.

Rolo nodded and walked to his ship Hunk trailing him. He showed us the damaged parts.

"I'm sure we would have the parts that you need, Hunk can get them, Coran will tell you where they are." Allura told him.

"We'll come help. Don't want you to carry those heavy things all by yourself." Rolo said waiving his companions over.

"Uh, I don't think so, you can just wait out here." Hunk stopped him.

"Hunk, don't be rude." Allura scolded.

"Yeah mind your manners. They're are ladies present here." Lance said winking at Nyma, I sighed in annoyance.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but might I remind you what happened the last time we let our guard down. Someone kind of set off a bomb and you were almost killed Lance." Lance's face twisted a bit at the unhappy memory.

"Oh yeah." He said.

"Hunk's right. Sorry but we have to be cautious." Shiro said.

"Hey, it's ok, I get it. In times like these, you gotta be careful in who you trust." Rolo said.

Beezer printed out a list of things they would need to repair their ship and Rolo handed it to unhappy Hunk.

Hunk left to get the parts and we stayed behind, I walked to stand next to Allura.

"So Rolo, what's your story?" I asked.

"My planet was destroyed by the Galra and I was taken captive." he said while sitting on a crate.

"I managed to escape, but not before I lost something." He finished knocking on his left prosthetic leg.

"I know exactly how that feels." Shiro commented looking at his arm.

I looked at him with sympathy, I wanted to comfort him but thought against it.

Hunk suddenly appeared pulling a hovering cart with him.

"Well, I hope there are some parts in here that'll fit." He grunted.

"You know, to get your ship moving." He said after he saw Rolo not standing up.

"Great Thanks!" Rolo said.

"So, what can you tell us about Zarkon's forces? Where are they concentrated?" Allura asked him.

"Well, his command ship sits right in the center of the Empire. He mostly calls the shots from there and has his minions do the work, depending on who's closest. This is the territory of a real nasty bugger named Sendak."

"Oh yeah, we've met." Keith said.

Like I really need to be reminded that he is somewhere in the castle, this caused chills to go down my spine.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt but I think you guys are kind of keeping Rolo from working." Hunk whined.

"It's just that we're in a hurry. A hero named Shay saved my life and I swore I would return to do the same for her and her people. You understand?"

"Sure, sorry." He said standing up.

He went to open the create and inspected the parts.

"Hey, bud! Sorry but do you think you could hunt down a length of thermal pipe about yay long?" Rolo asked from afar.

"On the way" Hunk groaned and slouched his shoulders.

"So, are there more freedom fighters?" Shiro asked moving to stand next to me.

"Any kind of organized resistance towards the Galra?" He continued.

"Only folks who haven't been colonized yet, or the lucky few, like us, who managed to escape somehow." Rolo explained.

"We're going to change that." Keith said.

"We will do everything we can to stop Zarkon's tyranny." I added.

"That's good to hear, but I've got to warn you, it's pretty bad out there. You don't know what you're up against, doll." He said and winked at me.

I heard a quiet growl from my right.

 _Did Shiro just growl?_ I thought as I slightly looked at him.

A large booming sound broke me out of thought and I looked up to see the Blue Lion leaving the castle.

 _Seriously Lance._ I groaned.

Hunk and Rolo began to fix the ship while we all sat around the fire waiting. Suddenly Rolo closed the engine compartment.

"I think this thing's just about ready, time for a test flight. Beezer come co-pilot for me!" He said running inside his ship.

The engines turned on without any difficulty and he took off. I got this weird feeling in my stomach as I sat down in the crate behind me. Time passed and there was no sign of Rolo returning.

"Something is not right." I said looking at the ground.

"Yeah" Hunk mumbled.

"Maybe their ship broke down again." Allura started but she stopped when Lance's voice came through our communicators.

"Guys! Hello? A little help?"

I quickly grabbed my helmet and placed it on my head.

"Lance? What's wrong? Are you alright?" Shiro asked.

"Well...I'm kinda chained...to a tree." I raised my eyebrows at the last part.

"I knew it!" Hunk exclaimed.

"But that doesn't matter. Rolo and Nyma took the Blue Lion and there heading off right now."

This made me jump off.

"I knew it!" Hunk exclaimed again.

We all raced to the castle and got in our lions. Hunk kept rambling about how he always knew that something was wrong and that the ship was never damaged. Until we finally had enough.

"Ok we get it!" We yelled in unison.

I piloted White towards the location Allura had given us and we raced through space. We saw Rolo's ship, but it was headed through an asteroid field. I stopped my pursuit; my lion was too big to maneuver through them.

"Keith, your lion is the only one able to move through the asteroids. Go and catch up to them." Shiro ordered.

I saw the Red Lion disappear in the now moving asteroids thanks to Hunk trying to push his way in.

We took off and went around the asteroids. Rolo was headed in our direction and it looked like Keith had done some damage to his ship. He landed in top of them and clawed in his front paws into the ship's hull stopping them.

"Yes! Hey Lance, I got your lion back." Keith said.

"Thank you, Keith. Now can you come and unchain me?" Lance asked.

"What's that? I uh can't hear you...You're cutting off." Keith teased.

"Oh, sweet pay back." I said with a laugh.

"Oh, come on! I thought we bonded! Keith? Buddy? My man?" He said in despair.

We now stood in front of the traitors back on the moon after we have retrieved Lance from the tree.

"Since your ship, really doesn't work now. You'll have to wait her for a rescue." Keith said.

"Thanks, for sparing our lives." Rolo said.

"Now that these guys are dealt with, let's get to the Balmera and save shay and her people." Hunk said with determination.

"You may not believe this, but I really do hope that you defeat the Galra." Rolo said when we turned our backs. We headed back into the castle and set a course to the Balmera.

Thanks for reading!

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	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **Return to the Balmera**

We stood looking at the Balmera from afar in the main control room. The planet looked brown with a tint of green. It was hard to believe that the planet was actually a living creature.

"So, what's the plan? We go in there and go pow, pow, pow! And free the prisoners?" Lance said making a gun with his fingers.

"What was that noise?" Keith asked looking at him weirdly.

"Laser guns." Lance smiled.

"No Lance, I think you mean. Pow, pow, pow. Pow!" Hunk said pointing his arms like cannons.

"That sounds like fireworks." Lance said.

I stood next to Pidge and she too joined in.

"Technically they're more like. Pa-chu, Pa-chu, Pa-chu" she said making her small hands into a gun.

I smiled down at her.

"Ok, enough with the bad sound effects." Shiro scolded.

"Besides it's more like. Blam, Blam, Blam!" Shiro made a gun with his right arm and came down on one knee.

I was surprised at his action.

"What?!" Keith said clearly feeling the same way.

"You're crazy." Pidge retorted.

"I'm surprised he joined in." I said smiling.

"No way." Lance stated.

"Uh, wrong." Hunk followed.

"Paladins focus!" Allura scolded us.

"Besides we can't just shoot at the Galra, the Balmera is a living thing and from what we've seen it doesn't look very good." Hunk stated.

"After seeing Shay's people being enslaved, it made me realize just how bad Zarkon really is and we're the only ones who can stop him."

"Ok so we can't shoot over there. Plan B, we find a way to draw the Galra up to the surface and battle them there." Shiro suggested, looking at a hologram of the Balmera.

"Wait I know! If we attack all of the big mining stuff from the surface, the Galra troops will have to come up to defend it, then we beat them up, head into the tunnels and Voltron saves the day." Hunk formed a plan, but I knew it was not going to be that easy.

"But how will we know how many are left down there in the tunnels?" Keith asked.

"We can track the Galra and the Balmerans using bio-thermal life indicator point technology." Allura suggested brining up an image of the devise.

"Oh, BLIP tech!" Pidge said fascinated fixing her spectacles on her nose.

Allura looked at her confused

"It's an acronym..." she trailed off.

"One of you will have to go around and drop these sensors in the mines, then we'll be able to see where the Galra and the Balmerans are." Allura explained.

"It's just like the battle of the flooded planes." I said caught in a memory, Allura looked at me with a smile remembering as well.

"I can do it." Pidge raised her hand.

"I just modified the Green Lion with the invisible maze's cloaking ability. I should be able fly around unnoticed."

"Wow Pidge nice thinking." I said, and I ruffled her hair.

Coran showed a building on the main screen.

"That's their main power generator. If you take that down, it will severely weaken their defenses." He said.

"We will stay up here and give tactical support, with the castle's defenses weakened from Sendak's crystal, we won't be of much help to you." Allura said, and I flinched at the sound of his name.

"I'll take out the power generator. Keith, Lance, Taylin, and Hunk, you take down those big mining rigs around the area." Shiro instructed.

"Yeah! Ok! Let's go kick some alien butt!" Hunk exclaimed exited.

I stepped on to my station and it lowered me down placing my Paladin armor in the process. I grabbed a hold of the zip line and made my way to my lion. I sat in my lion's head preparing to launch.

"You think the Balmerans would have a little parade for us once we saved them?" Lanced said fantasying.

"It's not about the glory Lance, it's about freeing prisoners from Zarkon." Keith told him.

"No, I know, I know, but still when the-" he was cut off by the launch.

I sometimes think that Blue gets tired of him too.

We went through the clouds and we were immediately met with laser fire. One of the towers fired a weird shaped laser, I moved quickly away from it.

"This is it, get your heads in the game. Remember, the Balmera is a living creature, make sure you concentrate your fire only on the Galra installations and not its surface." Shiro reminded us.

The Green Lion disappeared from view and Pidge began to drop the sensors into the caves below. I began to shoot the big pillar, that had shot at me before, with my lion's tail. Laser fire rained on us from all directions. It became difficult to aim and evade at the same time. Lance shot down the smaller pillars and Hunk smashed them with his lion. I saw Shiro heading toward the power generator and his lion formed a blade between its jaws. He took down the smaller pillars in between the generator making it explode. I had taken down one of the taller pillars but another one started to shoot at me. Suddenly the pillar had a melted hole on its middle, I looked at the Red Lion flying by.

"Wow! Did you guys see that?! I got fire power!"

"Thanks Keith." I said.

"No problem."

"No fair, I want fire power too." Lance whined.

One of the bigger pillars began to crumble.

"Hey! We can't let this thing hurt the Balmera!" Hunk said trying to hold it up with his lion. I flew quickly towards him and helped lift it up.

"Now what?" I asked.

I saw Lance coming in for a shot but instead of shooting lasers, the lion froze the pillar in place.

"Oh yeah! These rays are super cool just like me." He said.

"Don't get cocky kid!" I said chuckling and landing my lion on the frozen surface.

"Good job everyone." Shiro said to all, and the others joined me.

I looked down but after all the commotion we made no Galra troops came up to meet us.

"Where are all the troops? They're not coming to the surface." Keith asked, clearly having the same thought.

"Yeah, I remember seeing a lot of Galra guys down at the mines." Hunk added.

"We've located a whole fleet of Galra fighters just below the surface. Someone has to take them out before they can launch." Allura voice came through.

"They're luring us down, but we have no choice. Keith, Lance, you guys hit the hangar. Hunk, Taylin, head to the prisons to rescue Shay and the other Balmerans. Pidge and I will track down the Galra soldiers." Shiro said and we headed to our designated areas.

Hunk and I landed our lions in one of the many mines and used our speeders to get to the prison more quickly.

"Hunk, do you remember where the prison is located?" I asked.

"All these tunnels look the same, I can't remember where the prison is. Allura, can you tell us our location?" Hunk asked.

"You're on the right path, turn right at the next tunnel. Once you're there you have to disable the energy doors but be careful, cause its heavily guarded." Coran instructed.

We followed Coran's instructions and we reached the doors guarded by a few Galra sentries. They saw us coming and they began to fire. We got off our speeders and took cover behind them. I formed my bayard into a bow and started to shoot the soldiers at the upper levels. Hunk's big gun appeared in his hand and he fired at the soldiers guarding the entrance. Soon there were no soldiers left.

"That was way too easy." Hunk said, I agreed with a nod.

We made our way through the entrance and followed the tunnel. The cells came into view and Hunk used one of the sentry's hand, that he cut off, to open to cell. The Balmeras looked at us in surprise when they saw us.

"Where's Shay?" Hunk asked them.

A Balmeran sitting on the far corners spoke up.

"Our life may not have been perfect, but our family was whole. Your arrival has left us in prison and torn apart. As you started attacking, they took her away to the core of the Balmera. For all we know, she could be gone for good." He said angrily.

Hunk's eyes widen at the news, I saw his eyes reflect sadness.

I turned to look at the one who had spoken.

"You cannot blame this on us or him." I pointed at Hunk.

"He came back to save your people, he kept his promise. While you're here mopping in your cell, we are going to go find Shay." I said back with venom in my voice and a gust of wind blew through the cave at my irritation. I grabbed Hunk by the arm and pulled him along.

"Where are we going?" He asked me surprised.

"We are going to save Shay." I said sternly.

We got back into our speeders and made our way to the core of the Balmera with a map that Allura had provided us.

"Paladins, the Galra seem to be heading to the center." Allura said.

"They must be heading to the core, that's where there keeping Shay." Hunk said.

We stepped on it, making our speeder go faster.

We arrived and hopped out, as we walked in we saw a Balmeran chained to the ceiling of the core with something covering their mouth.

"Shay! You're Alive" Hunk cried in relief.

She heard him and opened her eyes and immediately started shaking her head trying to say something, but her voice was muffled. Hunk shot at her cuffs and she came falling down. I raised my hand and used my power to slow her decent into Hunk's waiting arms.

"Where are the Galra?" I heard Shiro say running in.

"If this is an ambush, they should be here waiting for us." He said just as Pidge came running in.

Lance and Keith soon followed, and the doors closed, shutting us in with no escape.

"It wasn't an ambush, it was a trap." Hunk said.

"The Galra, they gained knowledge that you would return to the Balmera." Shay told him.

"How?" Pidge asked.

"I know not, they set this trap just for you. I was the bait." She said hanging her head sadly.

"It has to be that liar Rolo, he sold us out!" Hunk said angrily.

"I don't know, something does not click here." I said holding my chin in thought.

"Wait, we have a giant castle right above us. Allura do you think you can come get us?" Lance asked.

"How do you expect her to do that, genius?!" Keith growled crossing his arms.

"I don't know, maybe they have tele-porters or something." Lance said.

"The castle does not have that type of technology, so it ain't happening." I said.

"We're quite busy at the moment." Allura voiced.

I could hear panic in her voice and laser fire in the background.

"Paladins! You need to get out of there as soon as you can!"

"This is it. We're gonna die here. I can say bye-bye to that parade." Lance hung his head.

"Now keep it together guys." Shiro said looking around for a way out.

"Perhaps my people can help." Shay said, and placed a hand on the Balmera's core. "This is how we communicate, the Balmera senses our vibrations and sends a message to those in the tunnels."

"Are you sure someone will be able to hear your...hand from all the way down here?" Keith asked confused.

"The Balmera will deliver the message." Shay said with determination.

I looked at the core fascinated by what Shay had said. My body involuntarily moved close to the core and I placed my hand on it. In an instant I saw swirls of many different color and I felt the Balmera's beating heart. I sensed Shay's voice and followed it, I felt someone else's presence. The Balmera in deed had delivered the message. I opened my eyes and took a step back.

"Wow, you ok Taylin?" Lanced asked.

"Yeah...never better." I said not taking my eyes off the core.

"Paladins, do you copy? There's a battle cruiser headed straight for us. If it fires its ion cannon, I don't know whether we can survive much longer." Allura's panicked voice snapped me out of my daze.

"We're trying Allura. Shay is pressing her hand against the wall which apparently send vibrations and the other rock people vibrate back or something...hand talking? I guess the answer to your question is, yes we copy." Lance said quickly.

I started to look for a way to tear down one of the doors, but I would not be able to do it without hurting the Balmera.

"Shay, are you sure the Balmera is sending your message?" Shiro asked urgently.

Just when I was about to shift the ground to make an exit, one of the doors came crumbling down. The Balmerans who we had rescued earlier from the prison had saved us. The Balmeran who ranted at Hunk appeared through the cloud of dust and looked at me.

"I took your advice and stopped mopping in my cell." He told me, I gave him a slight smile.

"We must make haste, we know a shortcut through the tunnels." He waved us over.

We ran after him and ran faster to my speeder when Allura mentioned that the Galra were taking our lions. I entered the cave where I have landed White and I saw her being lifted up. I pushed on my speeder's handles and my lion's chest opened for me. Now sitting in my control area, I blasted the Galra ship with my lion's mouth and joined the others in the sky.

"Did everyone make it to their lions in time?" Shiro asked as I followed right behind him.

"Come on Shiro, who do you think we are? A bunch of amateurs-" I heard screaming and I saw the Blue Lion crash.

"You really want me to answer that?" Shiro smirked.

Lance mumbled a "no" as we saw the Galra ships come into view.

We started to shoot them down, I closed my eyes for just a brief moment and connect with my lion. I felt a surge of energy and my lion shot a tunnel of water destroying the fighters in front of me.

"That's my girl." I said and patted the handles, my lion roared at my compliment.

That was soon over when Allura's desperate voice sounded in my ears.

"Paladins I need you now! Five more ticks and we're finished!"

I saw the ship fire its ion cannon at the castle and we flew in unison to form Voltron.

We pushed the ship to the side and diverted to beam away from the castle. Allura shot the Galra ship as I moved Voltron away. The Galra ship exploded and we headed back to the Balmera's surface. We were all celebrating our victory when something broke through the Balmeran atmosphere. It crashed sending rock particles our way, creating a huge dust cloud. When the dust settled, my eyes widen. It was another robot monster.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **Rebirth**

I gripped the handles of my lion even tighter, remembering the last time we had to fight one of these beasts.

"Please tell me there's not a massive monster in there. Please tell me it's empty." Hunk said scared. "Or full of space candy. One of those two, either one is fine."

"I don't think it's a piñata Hunk." Lance said.

"If it's the same kind of monster that attacked us, then we already know how to beat it." Keith said.

I let the breath I been holding in and exhaled.

"I don't think it's going to be the same monster, Zarkon is just twisted that way." I said.

Keith had formed the sword while I said my comment, the machine had dropped its doors revealing a horrendous monster. This one looked different from the other one we had fought. It has long arms and its eyes were covered in round circles, kind of like Pidge's glasses. The hole in the middle of its chest lit up green and it looked up at us and shot a beam from it. Pidge activated the shield just in time, the force of the impact pushed us back.

"We need to draw its fire away from the Balmera surface!" Shiro ordered. I moved Voltron away from the incoming beam and flew it straight to the monster to counter attack. It jumped up dodging our attack and shot at us from above. I moved Voltron's right wing to use as a shield. Overtime we tried to get closer to it but it always knew where we were going to hit.

"We can't hold much longer!" Lance cried out.

"My lion's weakening, if the shield takes in any more damage we're done for." Pidge stated.

"I can't keep reflecting the beams with our wings, they are taking heavy damage. If they fail I don't know if we will be able to fly." I said.

"They're right" Keith said.

"Oh, the girls are right? I'm the one who said we can't hold out!" Lance shot at him.

"Lance! Watch your footing!" But it was too late. The Blue Lion had tripped on a giant bolder and caused us to fall our shield braking in the process.

"Ok...Team Voltron disband!" Shiro ordered and we broke into lions.

"Everyone evasive maneuvers, it can't shoot us all at once."

Suddenly the monster raised its arms and many more laser came towards us. I was able to dodge one just in time.

"Ok...it can do that too" Shiro said annoyed.

A light blue beam shot from the sky, I saw the castle appearing from among the clouds. Allura had shot at it and its attention was now on the castle. The monster let out a laser towards her, I saw the particle barrier flicker.

"Taylin, Keith, shoot it from the sides. I'm coming in from above." Shiro said.

I moved my lion is attack position to its left and shot at with everything I had. I saw the Black Lion coming in for the kill, but the monster noticed it and shot, Shiro was able to avoid it just in time.

"We need to find its blind spot." I said eyeing the Black Lion for any damage.

"What blind spot?! This thing has like a thousand eyes!" Pidge shot back.

"What do we do then?! Fighting this thing is like fighting an entire fleet!" I said back flipping my lion into a nosedive.

"I think we have to aim at those laser eyes and take it out." Keith suggested.

"We'll cover you from up here." Allura said.

The castle shot at the monster and it aimed all its laser eyes at them, the castle was taking heavy fire.

"Allura! You have to move into the atmosphere! The castle will not be able to hold much longer with this kind of fire."

"We will not abandon you." She said.

"You're not abandoning us, we're about to pull back anyways." Shiro backed me.

"We are?" Hunk asked with relief in his voice.

"We can't hold out, we have to. All lions, to the mine shafts. It's the only place that the monster can't reach us." He ordered.

We all flew down, I chose the bigger shaft to fit our lions. The Black Lion followed so did Yellow and Red. I landed my lion and ran toward the Balmerans who had gathered.

"What is happening?" Shay's brother asked.

"There's a monster out there that was sent to destroy us." Keith said.

"A monster? Will Zarkon ever stop this meaningless war? Perhaps our people were never meant to be free." She cried in her father's arms.

"Shay don't give up, Zarkon's power grows with every planet he conquers but he's weakened by every being that fights back." Hunk told her.

"Fight back?! Against a monster like that?! How?" She said scared.

Hunk turned to look at Keith for back up.

"I don't know but we can beat it. Tell her Keith."

"Can we?" Keith said unsure.

"Yes, we can. This is our first mission and we're not going to fail. We can beat it, we just need some time to come up with a plan." Shiro said.

The ground shook, a noise like an animal howling in pain followed it.

"That weak noise comes from the Balmera itself. Our home crumbles beneath our feet, the Balmera is dying." Rax said sadly.

I looked at the ground in worry.

 _There must be something we can do to save the Balmera._

"Our scanners are showing just that." Coran stated.

An image of the Balmera was projected from Shiro's wrist.

"Taking a crystal is like taking its life force from the Balmera. The Balmera needs time to regenerate itself to stay healthy, but the Galra's greed may have cost this noble Balmera it's life." He finished gravely.

"So, what's gonna happen?" Hunk asked.

"Its core will collapse, destabilizing the entire skeletal structure, anything or anyone standing on the Balmera will be crushed into dust." Coran's words brought fear into our hearts.

"How long before its core collapses?" Shiro asked.

"Probably a matter of hours."

He continued.

"The mighty organism gives its self to all but not all return its kindness."

"Then our time is short, we'll have to evacuate the planet. We need to get all the Balmerans to the Castle of Lions, before the planet collapses." Allura said.

"And how exactly are we suppose to do that? That monster is still up there." Hunk asked.

"You'll need a distraction." Pidge mentioned.

While everyone else tried to come up with a plan, I thought of a way that I could help the others. Then an idea popped into my head.

"I'll distract in while the rest of you get the Balmerans off the planet." I said with determination.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Pidge asked me over the com.

"The only way I know. I'm going to manifest my true Drakie form and fight the monster above. My Dragon form is at least as big as the monster, if not bigger, it would be an evenly matched fight."

"Taylin, you're still recovering from the mass amount of energy you used last time." Allura said worriedly.

"There is no choice, I will not allow the Balmera to die knowing I could have done something to save it. It's the only wa-"

"No! I will not lose you! We will do this together, all of us." Shiro interrupted me and I looked at him with a surprised face as did the others. I crossed my arms and looked away.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" I asked him trying to keep my cool.

"We'll engage the monster with our lions. With it distracted, Allura and Coran load all the citizens into the ship." He answered.

"Or we could load them into our lions a few at a time and settle them into our ship. You know, no need to engage that ferocious monster. How long will that take?" Lance asked.

"Days, weeks..." Coran muttered.

"Look we don't have to beat this thing. We just need to bait it away from the ship. Provoke and evade." Shiro said.

"Look here's the thing." Hunk started, I looked at him.

"I'm afraid that we're gonna be really good at the provoking part and then really bad at the evading part." Hunk said dragging out the really.

He looked at Shay.

"But if this is what it takes to save Shay and her people, then I'm in."

"Can you contact the other Balmerans like you did in the core?" I asked her.

"I can... but I know not what they'll say. Leave the planet...our home..." she trailed off.

"It's the only option. I'm coming down."

 _What did she just say?_

My eyes widened.

"Someone has to be there to lead these people out."

"But that thing will spot your pod and blast you to pieces!" Pidge said.

I finally processed what she was talking about.

"Wait! So, it's alright when you go suicidal, but everyone objects when I want to do it. The moment you break through the atmosphere it will shoot you out of the sky." I said with a pout.

"Let me worry about that, all of you must focus on keeping the creature distracted."

I ran back to my lion and she lowered her head for me to enter. We left the cave and flew up. We just made it out when we started to take heavy fire. I headed in the opposite direction, the monster hot on our tail.

 _Well it seems to be working._ I thought still a bit angry.

"Ok, provoking done. Time to evade!" Hunk screamed avoiding a laser.

The monster was successfully distracted, and I saw a small object coming out of the clouds.

 _Allura_

The monster spotted her, I moved my lion to intercept the fire. I put up a shield before it impacted with me. I was able to contain in but the beam was too strong shattering my shield into a million pieces. I flew out of the way before it had the chance to target me again. I sighed in relief when I heard that Allura was safely on the ground. We continued to fight the monster, using everything we had. Lance and Keith used their lions new found power and I as well. I could feed the elemental energy to my lion and she would attack with it. There was a loud shaking from the Balmera and the tunnel where the Balmerans were climbing collapsed.

"The Balmera's weakening every time it gets hit. How's the evacuating process coming along?" Hunk asked concerned.

"The Balmerans are trapped, just keep distracting that thing." Coran said.

"Uh, do you want us to distract it by dyeing, cause that's what's gonna happen!" Hunk exclaimed.

I swallowed my pride and spoke.

"Shiro, we need to fight this thing. It won't do any good if we just keep evading. Its lasers are hitting the Balmera."

"This isn't working, we'll never take this thing down in our lions." Keith backed me.

"Well forming Voltron didn't help either." Pidge retorted.

"The only way to beat it is if we had a way to shoot all those laser beams at once." Lance said.

"Guys...something's happening here. I think my lion's telling me how to beat this thing. Do you remember how Voltron formed that sword with Keith's bayard? I think I can do the same with my bayard." He explained.

"Well whatever it is, we need to do something fast!" I exclaimed.

"Ok! Form thingy!" Hunk cried punching he bayard into his lion.

"It didn't work!" he said desperately.

"Because we haven't formed Voltron yet!" Shiro said.

 _He speaks!_ I thought sarcastically.

We quickly flew up and formed Voltron and stood blocking access to the castle. Hunk plugged in his bayard and a giant cannon formed on Voltron's shoulder. The monster fired a massive shot as we fired the cannon meeting it head on. The monster proved to be too powerful and it got closer to us. We were able to reflect the beam, missing the castle by a little.

We circled around, and the monster spread out its arms ready to fire. Suddenly and image of the monster appeared on my screen marking all the places where the monster fired from.

"Are you guys seeing this?" Hunk said.

"Let's see what this thing can do?" Shiro said and Hunk fired, the shot split into many smaller shots hitting the monster from all angles. It fell to its knee with energy surging through it from our hit. The monster suddenly got up and Keith punched it to the ground, powering it off. We disbanded and landed our lions near the castle. I saw Allura in Shay's arms and I took off running.

"Is she ok?!"

"Taylin, I'm fine. The rejuvenation ceremony just took a lot of energy." Allura said weakly.

I took her hand and transferred some of my energy to her and soon she was able to stand on her on.

The ground around us started shaking, I looked up and saw the monster was getting on its feet. I ran in front of the others and let my energy surge through me. I jumped high in the air and my wings manifested themselves. I summoned a shield that protected us like a dome, but it was soon unnecessary. The Balmera had created crystals around the monster and engulfed it. The Balmera had saved our lives. I saw no more danger and let my shield disappear. I looked behind me and flew back to the others, landed, and I vanished my wings. Everyone was looking at me with their mouths opened.

"What?" I asked.

"How-how did you do that?" Hunk asked.

"Well I am dragon remember." I told him with a smile and walked towards Allura leaving the others with dumfounded expressions.

"It's been quite a while since I seen your wings." She said.

"Well its impractical to walk around in the castle with them." I said with a smirk.

The Balmera had grown the most beautiful crystals all around us, all in different shapes and sizes.

Hunk was on the ground patting the Balmera.

"Who's a good Balmera? You are." He cooed.

I chuckled at Hunk.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Keith asks with a confused look.

Lance got what he wanted, the Balmerans made a little celebration for us. I laughed at Hunk and Lance embarrassing themselves. I saw the sun rising in the horizon and made my way towards a cliff. I sat down by the edge and watched the beautiful sunrise that illuminated everything in a golden color. My ears picked up foot steps behind me and I turned to see who was approaching. Shiro took a seat beside me.

"Hey" he said.

"Hey" I said quietly.

And I turned back at the sunrise.

"I'm sorry that I snapped at you back in the tunnel." he said. "I didn't mean to do it... I wanted to keep you safe, and the others too. You are an important part of this team."

I turned to look at him and he did the same. I gazed into his eyes and I saw sincerity in them. I looked down and saw his hand near mine and I placed mine on top of his, I looked back to his face and said, "Thank you for looking out for me."

He smiled.

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	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 **Crystal Venom**

I was really tired after our first mission of saving the Balmera, but Coran wanted us present in the detainment room. He went into my room ordering me to get up and did not even allow me to get ready properly. We were finally going to get information out of Sendak. I guess that's one of the reasons I did not want to go.

Coran was placing a type of device of Sendak's pod and connecting it on the cylinder next to it.

"Ok guys, Sendak is almost all hooked up but look I have to warn you, this technology was used to keep memories alive not to interrogate prisoners." Coran explained.

"Coran, we understand that this wasn't what the technology was meant for but if we can extract Sendak's memories, then we may be able to gain valuable information of Zarkon's troop locations." Shiro said.

He seemed the most eager out of all of us to get this information, everyone else looked tired, except Lance.

"Yeah, then we can just be like. "knock-knock. Who's there? The legendary fury of Voltron son!" Lance joked.

"Fascinating. So how exactly does it work?" Pidge asked Coran with her face plastered on the cylinder's glass.

"As the memories are extracted, there written bit by bit on individual molecules of the micro-storage strands." Coran explained.

"When I go, I want all the stuff in my brain stored into a giant ship." Lance said with a dreamy face.

'"The amount of information in your brain could be stored in a paper airplane." Keith said sarcastically making me laugh.

Lance frowned.

"Oh yeah! Well the amount of information you have Keith could be..."

"Yeah?" Keith pushed.

"It's less than what I have!" Lance said.

"Oh, good one Lance!" Hunk praised.

"What about you Taylin, don't you want your memories kept alive?" He asked me.

"We Drakie have our own way of keeping memories alive, but it's a secret." I winked.

"Aww come on." He whined.

"Nope, not telling."

"So, this is how you incorporated king Alfor's memories into the Castle of Lions?" Pidge asked curiously.

"Precisely but it has never been attempted on an unwilling participant." Coran answered.

Coran finally got it to work and the cylinder began to glow a faint blue color.

"Uh, is this what suppose to happen?" Hunk asked.

The pod looked empty, I guess that Sendak was not giving up information without a fight.

"Let's give it some time." Shiro said crossing his arm and standing in front of the pod.

Time passed, and nothing happened. I began to pace around the room, not wanting to look at Sendak. I had a feeling that if I looked at him, I would eject him into space. Hunk fell asleep standing up and fell down, surprisingly he stayed asleep when he did. Everyone started to leave one by one. Keith took his leave and went to train, Pidge went back to the Green Lion's hangar, and Hunk went to get something to eat. Shiro kept standing there without even flinching. I stopped pacing and looked at his back wanting nothing more than to take a peek into his mind and know what he was thinking, but my conscience told me not to intrude in his privacy.

Coran broke the silence.

"Well I'm afraid I can't wait here any longer either. I have a million duties to attend to. Between the Galra crystal infection and performing the Balmera rejuvenation ceremony, the old Castle of Lions has taken quite a beating." Coran said stretching his arms.

"I'll stay here. Somewhere in Sendak's mind is the information that we need." Shiro said still not turning around.

Lance stood up from the floor.

"Ok well while you guys do that, I think I'm gonna get my chill on. Maybe kick back with a lemonade or space juice or something." He muttered.

He was about leave but Coran stopped him.

"Hold on there space juice, you're gonna come and help me."

Lance whined.

"What? Why me...why don't you ask Taylin to help you?"

"Because she is a queen and has other duties and because your activity isn't really important."

I gave him a smirk and waved at him.

"W-wait did I say chill with a good lemonade? I meant I gotta do homework." Lance quickly said.

"Nope, too late." And Coran dragged him off.

I decided that I needed a shower since Coran woke me up too early for this, I did not even get the chance to do so.

"Call us if anything happens." I said to Shiro, but he didn't respond.

I went up to him and place a hand on his arm "Shiro?"

"Huh? Oh yeah sorry, I will." He broke out of his concentration but went back to this state afterwards.

I walked out of there no longer wanting to be near Sendak and headed towards my room. The lights in the hallway started to flicker stopping me.

 _Coran is right, the castle did take a beating._

I continued walking and went inside my room, grabbed my cloths, walked into my bathroom and decided to use the tub and relax. I turned on the faucet and started to fill, I touched the water to make sure that it was the right temperature but then the water began to come out in a rush. I tried to turn off the water, but nothing happened. Soon the water was spilling from the tub, I tried everything to shut it off. I decided to go find Coran to help me fix it, but the door would not open.

"What in the world?"

The room started to flood even more and was now at waist level. I this point I started to bang on my door.

"Can someone hear me! Coran! Anyone!?" I shouted.

Suddenly something grabbed me from behind by my throat and pulled me under. I tried to get away and pulled at what I saw was the detachable shower head after a few ticks of struggling. I began to run out of oxygen and used my powers to tear it up, I got up and gasped for air. The only way I was getting out of here was to break down the door. I shifted the water to the side, so that I would stay in the bathroom, and not flood my bedroom. I grabbed a hold of the door, shifting the medal and broke it off. I exited and sealed the bathroom again. I put my hands on my knees taking deep breaths. The light in my room suddenly turned off, I gave a yelp and ran out. I ran in the hallway trying to find someone but then I heard a struggle and swords clashing. I turned around the corner and saw Keith fighting the Gladiator.

 _What is it doing outside the training room?!_

"Keith!" I called to him, but I distracted him, and the gladiator was about to hit him. I sent a gust of wind knocking the gladiator to the wall.

"What's happening?" I asked him.

"I don't know!"

I heard someone hitting the airlock beside me as the gladiator stood up, it eye glowing a menacing red.

I turned to see who was pounding on the door and saw Lance in the air lock.

"Lance! What are you doing in there!?"

He kept hitting the door with his fists and Keith began to fight with the gladiator again.

"I need help because if you don't get me out of here right now, I'm gonna get sucked in to space!" He said panicked.

As if on cue the air lock opened, and Lance was trying with all his might to hold on. I was going to go open the door when Keith was knocked into me and the gladiator came to finish us off. I stood up quickly and pushed the open button causing us to almost get sucked into space, thankfully the gladiator got sucked out leaving us with one less problem. I was holding on to the side of the door and trying to reach my hand out to Lance. I was still too far away so I used the air being sucked out to my advantage and turned it around and he crashed into me, Keith closed the door. We let a sigh of relief and sat on the floor breathing heavily.

"What were you doing in the air lock?!" I asked Lance.

"Who was that guy?" He asked.

"He was trying to kill me!" Keith yelled.

"And why are you all wet?!"

"Well I almost drowned in my bathroom!" I yelled back.

"Well is it the castle cause that's who was trying to kill me!" Lanced yelled. We looked at each other and it dawned on us that it was true; we ran away in fear.

"Wait guys! The others must be in danger too." They stopped.

"Keith, Lance, go find Pidge and Hunk. I'll go check on Shiro."

I ran back to the detention room worried that the castle might have gotten to Shiro. I finally saw the door and ran in. I saw Shiro kneeling on the floor, as I got closer, I noticed Sendak was gone. There was a crack on the tube as if someone had punched it. I kneeled on the floor in front of Shiro, he looked scared. His forehead was covered in sweat and his eyes seem to be lost.

"Shiro what happened?!"

But he did not answer me, instead continued to breath heavily and look around the room lost.

I took his face into my hands.

"Shiro look at me, what ever happened its over?" I tried to calm him. He seemed to breathe a little slower, but he still could not concentrate. I did not even know if he was registering the fact that I was here. I had no idea what to do, I felt desperate to get Shiro back. I turned his face toward me again and on impulse, I kissed him on the lips. I felt his soft lips against mine and I closed my eyes.

 _Please come back to me._

Shiro finally came back to his senses and registered what was happening. I pulled my lips away and pressed my forehead to his and slowly opened my eyes. He was looking at me surprised at what I had just done. He placed his hands on mine still holding his face and gazed deeply into my eyes.

"Taylin..." he breathed my name.

I pulled my hands away and wrapped my arms around him tightly and buried my face in his neck. I felt how he slowly circled his arms around me hugging me closer to him. I rubbed my right hand on his back, reassuring him that I was here for him.

"Sendak is gone...he can't hurt us anymore." I whispered, and I felt him hold me tighter.

"Shiro! Taylin!" I heard Pidge cry and run into the room.

"Wow!" She exclaimed when she saw us.

Shiro and I quickly pulled away as the others came in running.

"Were ok." I said with my face heated.

"Where's Sendak?" Keith asked.

"I-I had to get him out. I was hearing his voice, he-he can't be trusted on this ship!" Shiro replied still a little panicked and leaned against the memory cylinder.

"It's the ship! I get stuck in a cry-pod then in an airlock. Taylin almost drowned in her bathroom. Keith got attacked by a robot. Hunk and Pidge got attacked by food. It's been a weird morning." Lance finished.

Shiro looked at me in worry when Lance mentioned what had happened to me but then he turned away with a bit of pink on his cheeks.

 _Why?_ I thought confused.

Then I remembered and looked down at myself, my wet clothes where revealing too much of my body. I tried to cover myself by crossing my arms. The alarms went off and a screen appeared.

"What?! How's that possible?" Coran said shocked.

"What is it?" Keith asked.

"The ship is starting a wormhole jump!" He said, and I thought of Allura. Between all the commotion, I had forgotten to check up on her. I ran towards the control room and everyone else followed soon after. I got there and saw Allura in her sleeping robe with her hands on the castle's controls.

"Allura what's going on?" Shiro asked.

"We're going to Altea. We're going home, my father is taking us." She said dazed. I ran towards her but was blocked by a shield, King Alfor's face appeared on the screens.

"Stay away from my daughter!"

"Allura! You must wake up! This is not real, please listen to me." I cried.

"The crystal must have corrupted King Alfor's artificial intelligence. Its taking over!" Coran explained.

The castle exited the worm hole and a giant red star appeared before us.

"I can see Altea!" Allura exclaimed.

Coran ran to the barrier and pounded his fists on it.

"Allura! Allura! Wake up! What you're seeing isn't real!" He cried out.

Allura seemed to pick up something invisible.

Coran banged on the barrier again "Where is the sweet smell of the jumble berries?"

Allura seem to smell something and gasped.

"That's not Altea!"

"When that star goes super nova, it'll destroy the entire system. Allura you have to reset the course to get us out of here." Pidge said.

Allura turned around and placed her hands on the controls but she received a shock that send her tumbling out of the barrier, I caught her before she fell.

"Father please, I beg you to turn this ship around." Allura pleaded.

"If you don't do it soon, we will all perish."

"I know, that is my intention." He said.

I gasped and hugged Allura closer.

"Don't you see dear daughter? Zarkon can never be defeated. He's been ruling for 10,000 years." He said, and his hologram started to flicker.

"But we must continue to fight!" Allura said and she squeezed my hand.

"Father please. The Paladins and I can stop Zarkon. Somewhere in there you must want that to happen."

Then the hologram flickered again and King Alfor's face changed.

"Allura! My A.I has been corrupted. You must disconnect my power source!" And just like that he was gone.

"We can still smell the blossoms every morning, just the two of us. Remember how much you loved that." He continued.

"I do... I'll see you soon father." She whispered.

She let me go and looked at the others.

"I got to get into the A.I chamber so that I can disconnect my father's power source manually. I need you to get into your lions and slow the castle's decent."

"But that means...losing King Alfor forever." Coran said.

Allura looked at him with sadness, I took her in my arms and whispered to her.

"Be brave, my sister."

We got to our lions and flew in front of the castle. I put White into position and pushed against the ship. The star was coming up fast, we seemed to have only slowed it down a bit. The heat was starting to get unbearable inside the cockpit.

"Paladins get back in your hangars! We are leaving!" Allura's voice brought relief to me and I brought my lion into the castle. Allura opened a wormhole and we were able to escape the super nova.

Back in the main control room, I finally had dry clothes on. I sat next to Allura on the platform, she looked pained.

"I'm sorry about your father Princess." Shiro said.

"We all are." Hunk added.

I gave Allura a hug.

"I know our fathers are gone, but you will always have me. I am not leaving you." I said softly.

"Thank you." She answered and returned the hug. She hugged me so tightly as if she was afraid I would disappear.

"But that was not my father." She let go and stood up. "The real King Alfor was a great man, and a great father. He may not be here with us, but his dream lives on through all of us. King Glerd was also a very kind and brave man." She said to me. "And their legacy is Voltron." She finished, I stood up to hug her once again.

Coran ordered Allura to head to be bed after the tiring day we had. Everyone started to leave the control room until it was only Shiro and I. I felt a twisted feeling in my stomach as I looked at the floor. After what I had done, I didn't know what to do.

"Hey" he said.

And walked to me.

"Look at me." He lifted my chin up.

I looked into his eyes, eyes that I have become so accustomed to. Eyes that I could see myself reflected on them. He rubbed his thumb on my chin and then traced my lower lip.

"I'm sorry for being so forward." I said.

He held my gaze for a few more ticks and he finally spoke.

"Don't be."

He lowered his face closer to me, our noses inches apart.

He looked to my lips and then my eyes as if asking permission, then he connected his lips to mine. I felt this strange feeling in my stomach and my mind only thought of him. He moved his lips and I moved them as well. Soon we were both in synchrony and he depended the kiss. I placed my hands on his chest and he placed them on my waist bringing me closer to him. Alas this moment had to end, we let go with heavy breathing and he placed his forehead on mine.

"You have no idea how long I been wanting to do that." He said out of breath.

"I now know why I fought Sendak and I put myself in harm's way... it was for you." I realized and that feeling the I felt when I saw Shiro fly to my side when Sendak hit him, that click inside of me.

"I care about you...I..."

He cut me off by pressing his lips to mine again, I felt like sprouting my wings and taking flight. A warm feeling spread through my body making me feel even more alive. He broke the kiss, took a step back and took my left hand in his, intertwining our fingers together.

"I care about you too." He said. "Come on, we need get some rest after the events of today."

He pulled me alongside him, exiting the control room hand in hand. We made our way to our rooms, he stopped in front of my door and leaned down to kiss my forehead.

"Goodnight. If you need me, I'm just across the hall." He whispered.

He let my hand go and smiled at me before walking into his room. My hand felt cold after his warmth left me, wanting nothing more than for this moment to never end. I finally understood what I was feeling all dose times when I looked at him causing my face to heat up or what stopped me when I was about to hit him when I awoke. I found myself in his eyes. I broke out of thought before anyone found me just standing here staring at Shiro's door. I walked in my room and changed into my sleeping robe. I was too tired and dazed to deal with my bathroom right now. I removed my crown and climbed into bed.

I was deeply asleep when something woke me from my slumber.

 _Must always something disturb my sleep._ I though as I rubbed my eyes.

I sat up and listened closely and there was the sound again. It sounded like a whimper and a yell, my eyes widened when I realized they were coming from Shiro's room. I got off my bed without taking the time to put on something on top of my thin sleeping garment and ran barefoot across the hall. I waved my hand over his door and it opened for me. When I walked in, it looked like Shiro was having a nightmare. He kept mumbling incoherent things and he was constantly moving. I walked closer to his bed and saw his face covered in sweat, it reminded me when I found him in the detention room. I took hold of both his shoulders and shook him.

"Shiro wake up." but nothing happened.

I tried shaking him again but that was getting me nowhere. I removed my hands from his shoulders and placed one on each side of his face. I reached out with my mind and I felt pain. He was in pain. Shiro was remembering what Sendak had said to him when he was in the pod. He called him a monster and that he was no better than him. Sendak taunted him, called him a failure, and laughed at him for thinking he could defeat Zarkon. I took hold of does memories and pushed them aside. I remembered the beautiful garden of my castle and I dragged his mind into mine. Suddenly, it was like I was really there, I could smell the fragrance of the flowers all around me, the water running in the nearby creek and the sound of the animals hiding among the plants. A breeze passed through the leaves brining chills to my arms.

"What is this place?" Shiro asked.

I turned around to look at him, he had a dumfounded look. He looked at his surroundings with amazement.

"This use to be my home. We are in my castle's garden, I'd come here when I wanted to get away from it all." I said.

"How-how are we here?" He asked confused.

"This is all a memory. I found you having a nightmare and pulled you out to bring you into my mind."

He looked at me as if I had grown another head.

"But this looks so real." He whispered touching a flower with his finger.

I walked up to him and grabbed his hand.

"My mind is a bit different from yours, I don't know if you remember this, but I told Lance in the detention room that we Drakie had our own way of keeping memories alive, and this is how we do it."

"I though you said it was a secret."

"And here I thought you don't pay attention." I chuckled.

"I like listening to your voice."

"Well yes, it is a secret because it involves reveling a closely guarded secret about our biology."

"What do you mean?"

I pulled him a long, we began to stroll through the garden.

"We Drakie have hearts like any other being that lives, but we have a second lifeline that we call our heart of hearts. It's a crystal that lies in the middle of our chest. It holds all our memories, our power, and most importantly our sole."

"So, you weren't kidding when you said you released your spirit when you attacked Sendak." He said with raised eyebrows.

I nodded.

"Taylin... if this is a close guarded secret, why are you telling me this?"

I stopped walking and looked down at the floor. He noticed, and turned around to look at me. I sighed.

"Is something wrong?"

"No" I looked up "everything is fine."

"You look worried."

"To answer your question...you're the second person that I have told this secret. The other person that knows this is Allura because I have trusted her for as long as I can remember, she is like my sister... I am telling you this because everything has become clear to me and the confusion clouding my feelings was removed."

I squeezed his hand and began to take small steps toward him.

"I could feel what you feel. Your pain became my pain, your sadness became my sadness and your happiness, became my happiness... I had never experienced this feeling in my life and therefore I did not understand, but now I do." I said with a smile.

"And what is it that you understood?" He said taking a step towards me.

"I chose you, without even knowing."

My words confused him.

"I chose you...as my mate." I cleared for him and placing my right hand on his chest.

He looked shocked at this news but then his expression changed, he picked me up and he kissed me with urgency. I returned the gesture and placed my hands on his hair. We broke apart and he placed me down on the ground but did not let go of my waist.

"That's a lot to process." he told me. "But I am glad you shared it with me." He smiled.

"I know it is and it's the same for me. Have patience with me, I'm quite new to this sort of things. My mother use to tell me about how she found her soulmate in my father but in all my years, this feeling caught me by surprise." I said.

"It's common for humans to fall in love, some might say that we are easily swayed." Shiro retorted.

I chuckled at his comment, "Who would have thought that the great Queen of the Drakie would be taken by surprise."

He laughed along with me.

I took a step back and he dropped his hands from my waist.

"Come let's keep exploring the garden."

He took my hand and we began to admire the garden. I remember when I use to hide here from Mother. She used to scold me for running away but always had a slight smile. We came into a clearing and I stopped. I knew that somewhere in this memory this would happen. In the clearing resting on the ground was my Drako. He was resting his head on the ground, the sun reflecting on his scales, they shined like thousands of azurites. His massive wings were neatly folded on each side like giant tents. Sometimes when I was just a little girl, nightmares would scare me, and I would run to him. He would sooth me back to sleep against his side and cover me with one of his wings.

He looked magnificent and I missed his so much. Storm had his eyes closed and looked to be deeply asleep.

"Wow is that a Dragon?!" Shiro exclaimed.

"Yes. He is my Drako."

He looked at me and back at Storm amazed like many others when they witness a Drako for the first time.

"Why don't we go see him." He asked, pulling my hand but I would not budge.

"No. He won't respond, remember he is a memory here. Since I awoke, our connection has been weak almost to the point of not existing. I have no idea where he is but one thing I do know, he is still alive. Somewhere out there, in this vast universe he waits for me." I said with sadness. "I miss him so much...he was always there for me when I needed him. Our lives where connected in so many different ways."

"How?" Shiro asked looking down at me.

"When a Drako is bonded with a Drakie, they create a very strong bond. Our lives become dependent of one another...let me put it this way, if a Dragon dies their partner can keep on living but if the Drakie dies...so does their Dragon."

I closed my eyes not wanting to see Storm any longer. I felt hollow inside, his presence was always near but now, I could not feel him. I shut my eyes tight trying to push away the pain and when I reopened them, we were back in Shiro's room. He opened his eyes looking dazed at what he had witnessed. He saw me and took me into his arms bringing me into his lap.

"I'm sorry. I know he was important to you." And he kissed the top of head.

We stayed like this, comforting each other until our eyes closed slowly and we fell asleep.

* * *

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	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

 **Collection and Extraction**

I woke up and felt someone's arms around me causing me to stiffen, but then I remembered where I was. I opened my eyes and it seemed that Shiro had brought us down to a laying position during the night. He was facing me with his eyes closed and holding me close to him. He looked so peaceful sleeping. I could not help to be overjoyed being here with him. I brought my hand close to his face and with a finger traced the scar on his nose. He felt this and opened his eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I woke you." I said with an apologetic smile.

"No worries, where you touching my scar?" He said moving his head closer to mine.

I placed my right hand on his cheek

"Yes, I think it's kind of cute."

He made a face, "and here I thought it made me looked dangerous." He chuckled.

"Nope. Definitely makes you look cute."

"Well let's keep that you ourselves." He said with a grin and slightly touched my noise with his finger.

"I believe it's time to get up." I said trying to not too hard to get out of his embrace.

"Just a little longer." He groaned and placed his face in the crook of my neck.

I felt his breath, making me blush. He pulled away after a few ticks and gave me a slight kiss on my lips.

"I guess you're right." He said pulling apart quickly and leaving the bed.

"Hey you cheated!" I told him with a laugh and threw a pillow at him.

He then came back and placed each hand besides my head caging me in. I laid flat of the bed looking up at him curious of what he would do next.

"You're going to regret that." He smirked and leaned down to capture my lips one more time. This time he did not pull away, I grabbed his shirt pulling him down and deepening the kiss. He pulled apart, gave me a quick kiss and stood up.

"I should really throw more stuff at you, so I can receive more punishments." I said laughing.

He just looked at me and began to laugh.

Shiro went into his bathroom to get ready, I decided that I needed to deal with my pool of a bathroom from yesterday. I opened the door and walked out content with myself. Who knew that waking up with the person you care about would feel this good. I felt like I was walking in heaven.

"Oh my God! What were you doing in Shiro's room dressed like that!?" I heard Lance exclaim in horror.

His screaming made me jump like a foot in the air. I pressed my palm over my heart trying to calm myself taking deep breaths.

"Lance! Give me a heart attack why don't you!"

"What were you doing in there?"

"That is not of your concern." I told him squinting my eyes at him.

"Oh yes, it is! You're my girl." He whined.

"Ah, no I'm not." I said with an expressionless face.

"Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to go deal with my bathroom." And I walked away, leaving a very confused and disappointed Lance.

Apparently, Coran had come in here and tried to fix my bathroom, but a wave of water came crashing on him when he opened the door. I had to remove the water from my room with my powers.

 _Well at least he fixed it._

I took a quick shower and changed into my red long leg romper that stopped a few inches below my knees. The back where two golden thick straps that crossed in the middle exposing some of my back. I pulled my hair into a nice bun and placed my crown on, applied a bit of gold eyeshadow and I walked out of my room.

"Wow" said Shiro coming out of his room as well.

"Why thank you. I do accept "wows"" I said with a chuckle.

He placed his hands on my waits and gave me a kiss on my temple but he more likely kissed my crown that went around my forehead, I laughed at the thought.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. Come on the others are waiting for us." I pulled him with me.

We made our way to the dining room hand in hand and just when we were to walk in we separated.

"Good Morning everyone." Shiro greeted the others who were sitting there waiting on Hunk to bring out food.

I gave them a smile "Hey, how did everyone sleep?"

I sat down next to Shiro who had pulled out my chair for me.

Allura noticed this and gave me a smirk.

 _She knows something._ I thought and narrowed my eyes a bit.

"Oh, we had a good sleep, just as I'm sure you and Shiro did as well." Pidge sassed with a smirk on her face.

My face began to heat up like it was burning, I summoned my ice powers to cool me down before I lit the table on fire.

I cleared my throat "What do you mean Pidge?" I said not making eye contact.

"Oh, don't try to deny it. We all know." She said waving it off.

I saw Lance trying not to make eye contact with me.

 _That little quiznak ratted us out!_

"Well...I guess there is no point in hiding it." I said taking Shiro's hand.

"Taylin and I are together." Shiro said.

This caused their faces to lighten up, even Keith let a small smile escape in our direction.

"Well it's about time." Allura said with a grin.

I looked at her confused.

"I mean I found out a little while back." She added.

"The mice huh." I said, she just nodded her head in confirmation.

I would have to learn to be more careful around dose mice, who knows what kind of stuff they might tell Allura.

"I'm happy for you both." Pidge said coming up and giving us a hug.

"Thanks Pidge, means a lot to us." I said patting her back.

"I'm sorry Taylin about what I said earlier, I want you to know that I totally cool with it." Lance said finally looking at us.

"Thanks Lance."

Hunk walked in with four big plates filled with delicious food and placed them on the table.

"What's with the overjoyed faces? What I miss? Did someone finally find chocolate? Because I love chocolate and I haven't had it in so long..." He rambled.

"No Hunk, we were just congratulating Taylin and Shiro on their relationship." Pidge cleared stopping his rambling.

"No way!"

And he picked both of us up in a giant hug.

"Thanks...for the support." Shiro said between breaths.

He lets us go and everyone began to eat.

We all gathered in the main control room since Pidge had mentioned that she had found a way to decode some of Sendak's memories. I honestly did not want anything to do with that low life but at least he was being useful for once. I wondered how far he was out in space or if he had crashed in a nearby star. I stilled considered death to be too good for him, he should have been brought to justice for all the atrocities he committed.

Everyone had gathered around Pidge's work area to see how she was coming along.

"I don't think your father would approve of you searching through an enemy's memories." Coran mentioned to Allura.

"I know, but we have to do everything we can to defeat Zarkon."

"I get were your concern is coming from Coran...but in war, we sometimes have to things we don't want to. Besides at least now he is useful." I said. Coran looked at me understanding but still hesitant.

"Once we know all of his weaknesses, we can drive to his front door and challenge him to a fight!" Lance exclaimed.

"Even if we do find any useful Intel, we must be careful and plan every step of the way. Zarkon has been ruling for 10,000 years, taking him down is easier said than done." I retorted making Lance frown a bit.

"Anything good yet Pidge?" Shiro asked.

"I'm was only able to salvage bits and pieces." She answered.

I heard Keith sigh "We need something to work with, right now we don't even have a decent map of the empire." He said.

"Who needs a map? After 10,000 years of conquering, I can probably fire my bayard at any random point in space and hit a Galra ship." Lance remarked.

"Lance is right but the castle does need and updated map of the galaxy." I said in thought.

"If we could find some troop locations or supply routes, small targets we could hit, then we could start to free planets one by one." Shiro said.

"Boring! How about a big kaboom?" Lance said rising his arms, making us break our thought. Shiro looked at him with annoyed.

"It's like Taylin said, Zarkon's been building his empire for 10,000 years, we're not gonna tear it down with six inexperienced pilots and one support ship. Hitting him where he lives would be a huge mistake." Shiro reminded Lance.

"Ok, I've crossed referenced Sendak's memories with the info from the downed ship I got back on Arius. Most of it was a mess but one thing kept repeating...something called a universal station." Pidge said.

"Universal station? Like the kind of station that controls the entire universe?" Hunk asked confused and placed his face closer to the screen, Pidge pushed him away so that she could see.

"Well we are translating in from Galra, so it could also be galactic hub." Pidge suggested.

"Or space base." Lance said earning a look for everyone.

"I don't think that's it." I said.

"I'm pulling up the location of your universal hub...station...base on the screens now." Coran said and an image of three planets appeared on the screen.

"I don't see the base. Where is it?" I asked.

"I don't know. Our long-range sensors aren't able to find anything with those coordinates." Coran said.

"Maybe he remembered it wrong." Keith said.

"No, I don't think so. If anything, I am sure that Sendak had a pretty good memory." I added in thought.

"Or maybe we've stumbled upon a top-secret base in Sendak's memories." Pidge theorized.

"Only one way to find out. Let's go take a look." Allura said and moved the Castle toward does coordinates. She slowly brought in the castle to avoid being noticed by whatever was there.

"We should be close enough to get a good scan but far away enough from being noticed." Allura said stopping the castle from moving forward.

As we got closer, in the middle of the three planets we had seen earlier, there was a giant looking asteroid with a base attached to it. Galra ships seem to come and go.

"It appears the gravitation between the three planets wraps this one away from scanners." Coran theorized.

"This place must handle shipments from all over the Galra empire." Shiro said.

"If this is some big airport where shipments come and go, why is it hidden?" Pidge asked.

"They must be transporting something really important from this base. Maybe it not an ordinary dock but some place where they load cargo. The question is, what is the cargo?" I said.

"There must be more to this than we're seeing." Shiro added.

"Then we better go take a look." Allura said and a screen with the space base outside schematics popped up.

"We'll need to enter here, the central control building."

Keith looked at Allura confused and his eyes widened, "I'm sorry Princess, did you say we?".

"I'm going with you. I've travelled through the galaxy transportation hubs many times with my father before the war. I know more about them than any of you." She answered calmly earning a look from Coran.

"But Princess, I'd rather you stay here." He said.

"I'm a part of this fight against Zarkon as much as anyone here. I'm going, does anyone have a problem with that?" She said firmly looking at us. Shiro shrugged his shoulders seeing nothing wrong with it.

"Fine. Suit up." He said.

Coran looked stunned and looked at me for help.

"Allura is old enough to make her own decision Coran, as much as I am. Plus it would be nice to have her there, just like old times, Right Allura?" I said.

"Indeed." She said with a smile.

Coran looked like a sea creature out of water gasping for air, everyone else looked shocked that Allura would be joining us.

We went on the Green Lion since Pidge had modified it with the training decks invisible maze technology. Right before we entered the area of detection, Pidge activated the Green Lion's cloak, it seemed to be working. We landed safely and created an entrance for us to climb in. We made our way to the control room and Shiro knocked out the first guard as we took care of the other two. Pidge made her way to the control panel using Shiro's prosthetic arm to access the controls. Everyone else stood and watched the entry while they worked. I was looking at Pidge work her magic when I felt a shadow fall over me. I looked out the control room window and saw a massive Galra ship docking on the base.

"Guys, sorry to interrupt but I think we got company." Keith said.

Everyone turned towards the ship and quickly hid down to avoid getting spotted. I leaned towards Pidge. "How's the download coming along?" I asked.

"I just need a few more minutes."

"I don't think we have a few more minutes."

"Just stay low, we need this intel." Shiro said.

On cue, a beeping sound came from the control panel and a screen appeared. We quickly lowered ourselves more. On the screen was a Galra with a confused face, he was waiting for permission to dock.

 _Of all times..._

I closed my eyes trying to think of something, I heard Hunk crawling away. I opened them to see Hunk grabbing one of the sentries we had offline and make some hand signals to the Galra on the screen. He seemed to accept this, and the screen disappeared. I let out the breath I was holding.

"Alright, download complete." Pidge broke the silence.

"What's it say?" Keith asked.

"...Nothing. This place doesn't have any useful information, just schedules of the ships coming in and out." She explained.

"Hold on Pidge, do you know where that ship is headed?" Allura asked her.

Pidge did some typing before responding.

"It's scheduled to be here for half an hour, then head back to central command."

"That's where the real information we need is and I'm gonna sneak aboard that ship and get it for us." Allura said determined and everyone else looked at her with shock.

"Are you crazy Allura! Missions like this fall under my criteria." I told her.

"What? No way!" Lance remarked.

"How are any of you gonna get in?" Keith asked.

Allura smiled and removed her helmet.

"I'm gonna walk right through the front." She said.

"I was afraid you were going to say that." I sighed.

Allura's skin turned a Galra shade of purple and she began to grow in size, soon she was overlooking us. Everyone else looked at her with awe but I just looked annoyed.

"How the heck were you able to do that?" Hunk asked after getting over his shock.

"Alteans are chameleon like people who can blend in with any population, It's the ability that's made us great explorers and diplomats through our history." She explained.

"Yeah, but you were never able to copy a Drakie." I told her with a smirk, she just smiled at me remembering when she tried. Let just say it did not go to well.

"So, can you like turn into a balloon?" Lance asked.

"How many colors can you be at once?" Pidge added.

"Aren't you afraid you'll rip your pants?" Hunk finished.

They bombarded Allura with questions and moved closer to her eager to hear her answer.

"No. Just one at a time. And I will need a change of costume." She answered, her eyes moved towards the knocked-out soldier. "I can use his uniform as a disguise."

"I can't let you go in there alone." Shiro said.

"Excuse me? I don't need your permission." She retaliated offended.

We turned to look at Shiro, but he just ignored us.

"It's too dangerous. I'm going in with you." He said and walked up to Allura.

"You're just going to stick out like a Shoferits nose." Allura shot back.

"You're going to need that nose Princess." Pidge said taking hold of Shiro's prosthetic hand and making it wave at her.

"Shiro's hand is made from Galra tech. It's the only thing we have that will allow us to interface with their system and get their intel. I can monitor the download remotely from here." Pidge explained to her.

Allura gave it some thought and she turned back to us an agreed.

"Alright"

"If Shiro is going, then I'm going." I said taking a step forward.

"What?" Shiro's eyes widen.

"I was trained to handle these types of missions. There was a reason why the Galra called me Night Stalker... Who did you think they send in infiltration missions?" I said sternly pointing at myself.

Whatever he said was not going to change my mind. There was no way I was going to allow my closes friend and mate to go into a Galra ship alone. I crossed my arms and gave him a glare.

"Fine." he said with a sigh.

"You guys better hurry if you want to get on." Hunk said.

The three of us started to walk away, Allura grabbed the guard's uniform on the way out.

We had found a crate full of junk and I had the greatest idea to hide Shiro and I inside. Allura had put on the Galra uniform, she looked exactly like one of them, I just hoped she could play to part. I now found myself on top of Shiro in a cramped container.

"Me and my great ideas." I whispered to myself.

"It's not that bad." Shiro answers and I felt him shift underneath me placing a hand on my waist.

"I think your just in enjoying this way too much." I said making eye contact.

He gave me a slight smirk and did not even make an attempt to hide it.

"Maybe"

We were so close I could feel his breath on my face and our noses where just inches apart. I began to feel this warm feeling spreading through my body and suddenly his hand felt heavier, more noticeable to me. Then someone kicked the crate.

"Could you please stop talking in there." Allura scolded us.

Allura kept on moving.

"Halt!" Someone said, and we stopped moving.

Shiro and I sucked in a breath and my heart began to race like a Drako taking flight.

"Move a long." And the crate began to move again. I was so relived I leaned my head on Shiro's helmet and he squeezed my waist reassuring me. We kept moving for quite a while, I was starting to wonder if Allura was just wondering about. The crate finally stopped moving and Allura opened the top.

"Alright, we're in." She said.

She looked down at us.

"I don't even want to know what you two were doing in there."

"Gosh Allura, nothing." I said turning a bit red.

I got off of Shiro and he stood up jumping out of the crate then reached for me. He took hold of my waist and lifted me out setting me down on the floor.

"Good work Princess." Shiro said.

"Ok, now we need to find an access point." I said looking around.

Shiro looks around the hallway and began to move, we followed close behind him. I had my guard up and ready to draw on my power when needed, I could feel the familiar tingle on my hands as if my power was responding to me. We came to a corner and hid, there were sentries patrolling the area.

"Get back." Shiro said pushing me behind him, I felt Allura place a hand on my shoulder.

The sentries moved passed us unaware of our presence, suddenly Shiro gasped and his expression changed. He seemed to be frozen up like the last time we entered a Gala ship. I touched his face.

"Shiro, are you ok?" I asked worried.

He opened his eyes to look at me.

"I just remembered how I escaped from the Galra prison ship. Listen, most of the ship's personnel are sentries. When I was a prisoner, I timed their pattern." He explained.

"Do you remember it?" Allura asked.

"Let's find out. Follow me."

I removed my hands from his face and he took my left hand in his. He waited a few ticks and we began to move quickly through the hallways. I followed him without hesitation, I knew that he would guide us in the right direction. I stayed alert just in case I had to defend us.

It seemed like Shiro did remember the pattern because so far, we had not encountered many sentries. We hid behind a corner to wait for a patrol to pass by to finally arrive at a room. When I peeked inside I saw two Galra sentries working on a control panel. Shiro signaled me to take care of the Galra to the left. We slowly snuck up behind them, I formed a fist size metal ball with my powers. I threw it at the soldier's head with so much force, it knocked him out. I looked to my right and Shiro had already taken care of the other Galra.

"Allura stand and watch." I told her, and she quickly moved to take point by the entrance.

"Okay Pidge, start the download." Shiro said placing his prosthetic hand on the control panel.

A screen appeared, and Pidge began to work remotely breaking the Galra system firewalls.

"Generating access codes." Pidge said.

An image of what seemed like Pidge with her glasses appeared and after a few ticks she cracked the firewall.

"We're in."

The information began to download but suddenly an unfamiliar voice came from the hallway.

"What's going on here? Who are you?" Said a deep voice.

I looked over at Shiro who was telling Pidge to hurry up. I stood ready to fight and summoned my bayard, it materialized as a sword. Allura leaned on the door frame trying to hide us behind her.

"It's about time you got here, where is the rest of your squad?" She asked the Galra.

The guard tried to look over her, but she pushed him back.

"We are part of Zarkon's high command, our work must not be disturbed." She said.

 _Quick thinking, keep it up._ I thought.

Allura got the soldier to leave with her fast thinking, I relaxed just a bit and slowly made my way besides Shiro.

"How's it coming?" I asked.

"Not as fast as I would hope, we need to get out of here soon." He said preoccupied.

I placed my hand on his shoulder and saw that the download was a little over half. My relief was cut short when the same Galra came back. He began to ask questions to Allura and she tried to stall him. The alarms went off startling us.

"Fugitive prisoner 117-9875 detected. Remain where you are, security alerted." The comm said.

"The system must have overwritten." I said a little panicked.

Allura backed away from the door.

"Uh, help! Intruders!" He said and Allura closed the door on him before he could enter. The Galra began to shoot at the door.

"We must find another way out; the hallways will overflow with soldiers." I said.

I looked around the room trying to find another exit point but then suddenly someone smashed through the door. Allura had used her strength to push the door off its hinges and smash the soldier on the wall. She was able to knock him out, we looked at her surprised. The sound of footsteps broke us from our daze.

"Let's go!" Shiro yelled and he ran the opposite way from the incoming sentries. They began to fire at us, I formed my shield deflecting their shots.

"Pidge! Fire up the Green Lion! We're coming in hot!" Shiro yelled into the comm.

We kept running without a sense of direction, we came to a stop when two sentries blocked our path. Shiro quickly took them down and other sentries began to fire at us from behind. I was ready to pounce on them when someone fired at them shutting them off. I looked behind me at Allura, she was holding a gun.

"I thought you said you traveled around the galaxy. I mean, you fly a spaceship. How could you possibly not know how to hold a gun correctly?" Shiro asked her and took the gun placing it correctly in her hands.

"I'm tense! This is a tense situation!" She said, and we began to run again.

"Yeah! But you could have shot me!" I retaliated.

More and more sentries flooded the hallways. I took some down with my sword and Allura tried to help by shooting at them but there were just too many.

Then a voice came from the speakers "Secure hatches. All personnel take positions for departure."

"We must hurry if we want to make it out of here!" I yelled running even faster. Four sentries where coming our way, I ran towards them deflecting their shots with my sword. Just when I came close to them I jumped and pushed off the wall slicing them all with one hit.

"The escape pods are here!" Shiro yelled from behind me. I ran towards them as saw that the ship was about to leave.

"It's taking off!" I yelled.

"Hurry! We can't leave once the ship goes into hyper speed!" Allura yelled back.

We ran into the room with the escape pods with a dozen or so Galra hot on our tail. Shiro turned around and shut the door behind us but a sentry had shoved itself in. Allura came to aid him and used her strength to try to close it. Shiro began to weld the door shut with his prosthetic hand, I summoned the fire element and followed his lead. It was a slow process and we were running out of time.

"Get to the pod!" Allura yelled at us.

I stopped what I was doing and looked at her with disbelieve.

"There is no way I am leaving you here!" I said angrily.

"Princess, we're not leaving without you." Shiro confirmed.

"You have to!" She retaliated.

"No! I will not abandon you!" I said with desperation.

Allura suddenly let go of the door and took a hold of Shiro and me and threw us into the escape pod. I was not expecting for her to do that, I felt my body fly through the air and hit the floor hard. I got up quickly ready to run back to her, but the doors closed me in. I banged on the stupid doors and yelled at the top of my lungs.

"ALLURA!"

Shiro looked at her in shock as we saw in horror when the sentries finally broke through the door and took a hold of her. Allura gave me a small smile, trying to reassure me that she would be fine. I kept banging on the door as the pod began to leave. Tears spilled out of my eyes clouding my view, I slid to the floor sobbing. Shiro broke out of his shock and came to me. He took me into his arms and held me tight, I cried onto his chest. I could not believe that Allura had fallen into enemy hands.

"Shiro, we have to- we have to go back for her." I said between sobs.

"There is nothing we could have done but I promise we'll get her back." He said.

After that we did not say anything else. I stayed in Shiro's arms clinging to him as if we would somehow disappear too. Suddenly, I felt the familiar presence of the Green Lion and it took us into its jaws. Shiro stood us up as I seemed not to know how to function. We entered the Green Lion and we were met with the stares of the other Paladins. They looked at my state with worry.

"Where's Allura?" Keith asked.

Shiro did not say anything and another sob slipped through my mouth at the mention of her name.

"Taylin?...Shiro?" Lanced asked worried.

Shiro cleared his throat "She...she sacrificed herself to save us."

"So, she still on that ship?" Pidge said horrified.

"The ship that's headed to Zarkon's central command?" Hunk asked.

"The place where Zarkon is?" Lance added.

A horrible feeling sunk deeper into the pits of my stomach with every question, making me feel even more guilty for leaving Allura behind.

"The place that's way too dangerous for us to attack?" Keith continued.

I had enough of their questions and pushed myself off of Shiro's arm abruptly.

"What do you want me to say?! Yes! She was taken! There was nothing I could have done! Asking questions is not going to bring her back!" I snapped.

I was really angry, my body trembled with each breath I took. I felt how my whole body heated up and fire threaten to manifest itself in my hands. Everyone looked at me with widened eyes, I couldn't take it anymore and looked down at the floor. The tears came back in full force, I dropped to my knees no longer able to hold myself up. Shiro immediately leaned down and tried to make me look at him but I refused. Everyone was quiet, the only thing that could be heard was my crying and Shiro's voice trying to sooth me. I ignored everything around me, the only thing I saw was the last image of Allura being left behind.

"I... Allura...am sorry." I whispered.

Shiro hand rubbed my back trying to calm me down.

"It doesn't matter how dangerous it is. We can't let Zarkon get Allura." He said with determination.

"But you said going there would be a huge mistake. You said for us to attack that place head on would be the dumbest possible thing we would ever do." Hunk said with fear.

"I know but we don't have a choice." He finished looking down at me.

He placed his hand on my chin and this time managed to make me look at him.

"We are going to get her back, I promise you." He said.

I felt his confidence run through me and give me the strength that I needed to pull myself together. I nodded at him and he helped me to my feet. Pidge piloted the Green Lion back to the castle and when we stepped out into the hangar, I was afraid of what Coran would say. Shiro took my hand and led me quickly toward the control room. We walked in and Coran asked the dreaded question.

"What happened? Where's Allura?" He asks panicked when he did not see her come in with us.

I looked down at the floor not being able to hold his gaze. I was too ashamed that I was unable to do something to save her.

"She got captured...she sacrificed herself to save Taylin and I and the information. We didn't have a choice." Shiro said with clear guilt in his voice.

"Wh- How is that possible!"

"Coran, I'm sorry things didn't go as planned but we can't focus on what went wrong, we gotta find a way to make it right. Pidge anything?" He said.

"Guys look at this." Pidge displayed an image of a massive ship on the main screen. My eyes widen the size, it was easily ten times bigger than the castle.

"I think we should go in right away, every minute we waste gives Zarkon time to prepare for us." She said.

"I agree. We form Voltron, fly in, fly out, dust off our hands and walk away." Lance said.

"It's not that simple." I said, everyone turned to look at me. It was the first time I said anything since my break down.

"Look I'm sorry for snapping at all of you, it was wrong of me... we must come up with a plan otherwise we run the risk of someone else getting captured and I will not allow that to happen again." I finished with determination." But Pidge is right, we must act as quickly as possible Allura's life depends on that." I added.

"Or, we shouldn't go on this mission at all. Think about it, we'll be delivering the universe's only hope to the universe's biggest threat." Keith commented making everyone stare at him with shock.

"Keith, that's cold even for you. What if it was one of us? What if it was me? You wouldn't leave me behind, would you? Would you?" Hunk asked him with disappointment.

"I'm not saying I like the idea, I'm just thinking like a Paladin." Keith responded.

"No! You're just thinking of yourself because you're too scared to do what's right." Lance said angrily.

"Ok, we're all upset because we lost Allura." Pidge sighed.

"No! Shiro lost Allura!" Coran blamed my mate.

Coran was about to say something else when I stopped him.

"that's enough. No one is to blame for the loss of Allura, what we must be doing now instead of fighting each other is come up with a way to save her." I said sternly.

"We are not abandoning her." I said looking at Keith, he turned away and crossed his arms.

Everyone moved to their stations to try to find a way to access Zarkon's command ship. I looked at the schematics, it seemed there was no easy way to enter without being detected. His twisted mind had thought of everything. I looked in front of me and saw Shiro and Coran talking, and it seemed they had set their differences aside.

"I think I know how to get in." Shiro spoke up.

"We're gonna jump right into the enemy unseen and undetected." He said.

"But I thought we needed Allura to open the wormhole." Pidge said.

"That's true, but we may have enough of her essence to make one jump and we can use Taylin's powers to direct the castle." He said pointing at me.

I looked confused since I had never done that before, Coran turned back to the map.

"We'll hide in one of these giant gas planets around Zarkon's ship. The gas is so dense that it should cover us from being seen." Coran finished explaining.

"From there we'll scan Zarkon's ship for Allura's exact location. Then we'll attack before Zarkon knows what hit him." Shiro added.

"There's only one hiccup. We only have enough energy to make one jump but without Allura, we won't have enough to wormhole our way out." Coran said.

"It doesn't matter, we're not leaving without her." Shiro said.

No one objected to Coran and Shiro's plan and I went to stand between the pillars that Allura uses to control the castle. Coran looked at me and nodded, I placed my hands on the controls. I closed my eyes and concentrated, I connect to the castle's crystal and felt the energy around me, I thought of Allura and I opened my eyes. In front of the castle was a yellow wormhole.

"Wow, why is it yellow?" Hunk asked surprised.

"Because we are using my energy to manifest it." I explained, Coran moved the Castle towards the entry.

We came out the other side of the wormhole, the gas of the planet seemed to be hiding us from sight. Everyone got into position and went into their perspective areas that lead down to our lions. I changed into my Paladin armor and I was transported to my lion. She sensed my uneasiness and I felt how she gave a slight purr.

"Thanks." I told her.

We formed Voltron outside the castle; I felt more determined than ever to rescue Allura.

"Ok guys this is it. Voltron's gonna come in fast and without warning. We'll smash our way inside Zarkon's ship and free the Princess before they know what hit them, we'll have the Princess and be on our way." Shiro said.

"Let's do this." I said.

I flew Voltron through the dense gas, when we came out, there was Zarkon's command ship with a whole fleet protecting it. A large dome sphere began to surround the area when we entered.

"What is that?" Hunk asked.

"I don't know, but I hope once we find the Princess we'll be able to find a way out of here." Pidge responded.

I looked at the purple dome, studying it.

"It's a shield meant to keep us in." I realized.

"This is not good." Hunk replied scared.

The fleet surrounding the main ship began to fire at us. I maneuvered us to avoid getting hit and used Voltron's wings to block some of the incoming attacks. Shiro moves us straight toward the main ship and punched both hands onto the ship.

"Form sword!' He said.

Voltron's sword appeared causing an explosion. I moved Voltron forward while the sword was still inside the ship creating more destruction. It felt nice to finally hit Zarkon where it hurt. Many Galra ships began to fire at us trying to stop our attack.

"Form shoulder cannon!"

Hunk punched in his bayard materializing the cannon on Voltron's shoulder. Hunk fired and like before the shot split into many smaller laser fires hitting many ships at once. We circled around coming for a second attack on Zarkon's ship when we froze. I tried moving Voltron, but it would not respond.

"What's going on?" Hunk cried, and the sword disappeared.

"Something's malfunctioning!" Keith exclaimed.

"I can't move Voltron! It's totally Frozen!" I said.

"Somebody do something!" Lance screamed.

"I can't hold it!" Shiro exclaimed trying to hold Voltron together but it proved to be too much and we disbanded back into lions.

"What just happened there?! Something tore us apart!" Hunk cried out.

"I don't know but we got bigger problems right now. Look!" Lanced said.

Many warships were headed towards us.

"Everyone take evasive maneuvers!" I ordered.

We moved out of position and began to destroy Galra fighters and cruisers. I summoned my lion's jaw blade and reinforced it with the metal element making it twice its size. I flew toward a massive warship dodging fire from all flanks and stabbed it on the side creating a big explosion. I kept of hitting the cruiser many times until the whole thing came apart. There was a sea of Galra fighters all around us. I took one down and another one would come take its place. The big cruisers were getting ready to fire their ion cannons when a blue beam came from above and shot them out. The castle appeared from amongst the gas.

"Coran attack! I've waited 10,000 years for this!" I heard Coran say exited.

I turned to shoot one of the Galra fighters but then I realized that I had not seen the Black Lion. I turned my lion towards Zarkon's ship and saw Black was still there.

"Shiro! What going on? Why are you not moving?" I cried.

"Something's overriding the controls. My lion is not responding!" Shiro exclaimed and let out a load groan.

"Shiro's in trouble, I'm going in." Keith said, I saw the Red Lion moving towards his position. I moved the handles of my lion forward and she responded immediately. Suddenly, the Black Lion glowed a bright purple and Shiro was tossed out of its mouth.

"Shiro!" I yelled and moved to aid him but many Galra fighters blocked my way.

"Guys what do we do? Our plan isn't really working as...well planned." Hunk mumbled.

I moved the right handle forward with force and shot a massive beam toward the Galra fighters obliterating them.

"Shiro are you ok? There's too many of them, I can't reach you!" I exclaimed.

"I need to get the Black Lion; you guys go get the Princess." Shiro orders.

He made a hole on the ship using his prosthetic hand and climbed in.

"Be careful Shiro. I... I love you." I said. I felt how a weight was removed from my chest when I confessed it.

"I love you too." he responded.

Relief flooded my heart when he said it back.

"I've identified Allura's exact location. Sending you the coordinates now." Coran said, and it appeared on my screen.

"In the meantime, I'll provide you cover, out here, all alone, against an entire fleet... so if you would speed up the rescue that would be great."

"You guys get the Princess without me." Keith said.

"No Keith! We have to work together, this is no time to split up." I argued.

"Yeah! This is no time to play lone wolf Keith, we have to stick together! What are you doing?!" Lance said.

"Whatever I can." Keith mumbled.

Keith pilot his lions straight into the particle beam that was pulling up Black. He rammed the Black Lion sending it flying towards the side of the ship and crashing there. Keith made his way to cover Black when something red approached and landed there.

"Whoa, who's that guy?" Keith asked.

Coran was seeing through Keith's feed.

"It's Zarkon!" He yelled.

My blood ran cold at the mention of his name.

"Keith, get out of there now! Zarkon's too powerful!" Coran warned him.

"This is my chance to put an end the Galra Empire! I have to take it!" Keith exclaimed and moved his lion forward.

"Keith listen to me! He is way too powerful for just one lion!" I said but Keith seemed to have cut communications.

"That hard head!"

I was angry at Keith for putting his life on the line but instead of lashing out, I used that anger to fuel my power. I transferred my energy to my lion and she spread out her wings. We began to move at light speed destroying Galra fighters faster than they could be replaced. They never saw us coming, to them we looked like a blur, but I could see with clarity through my lion's eyes. I was able to take down many Galra fighters and two warships. The path was clear for me and I made my way to assist Keith as I saw the Red Lion take a hit. Zarkon was using a purple sword, when I looked closely, I realized it was the Black Paladin's bayard. The bayard that rightfully belonged to Shiro. Zarkon was coming for another attack on Keith when I used that same speed and attacked from behind sending him crashing to the floor. I landed next to Keith and my lion folded her wings and gave out a powerful roar.

"You cannot stop me Princess. The Black Lion will soon return to its original Paladin." He mocked me.

"You are not worthy to be the Paladin of the Black Lion. And I am not a Princess, I'm a Queen or have you so soon forgotten you gave me that title. You killed my parents and for that you will pay." I said darkly and shot a laser out of my lion's jaws.

Keith joined in on the attack, we stopped firing but Zarkon was not there. Suddenly we were hit from behind. We began a game of cat and mouse, and it seemed we were the mice.

"Keith! Taylin! Get out of there!" Coran yelled through the comm.

Keith looked up as Zarkon was coming down on him with his sword, he moved out of the way just in time.

"Do you copy?! You don't know what you're dealing with, he's too powerful!"

"I know exactly who I'm dealing with!" I yelled coming in for another attack.

Keith was coming from behind but Zarkon then turned his sword into a whip and grabbed the Red Lion crashing him on the ship besides me. The Red Lion unexpectedly formed a rail gun on its back and fired a massive beam towards Zarkon. This took him by surprised, the beam hit him head on. He was able to form a shield, but the blast was too strong sending him to the floor causing the beam to go straight into the ship. Keith began to follow Zarkon around shooting him with his new-found power. I began to aid shooting electric orbs of energy. Most of our shots Zarkon was able to dodge but they hit his ship causing major damage to its surface.

"You fight like a Galra soldier... But not for long!" He mocked.

"Don't compare me to you." I growled.

Zarkon's whip turned into a mace, he swung it at Keith causing him to crash hard on the ship's surface.

"Keith!"

But I got no response, it seemed that the Red Lion was malfunctioning. I moved my handles and my lion stomped her right paw on the surface sending sharp spikes made of ice towards him pushing him back . I moved my lion forward ready to pounce on him when a blue beam hit him. I saw the Black Lion come into view and pick up the Red Lion in its jaws.

"I got you buddy." I heard his voice and I was relieved.

"Let's go Taylin." I followed him at once.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"I'm fine." He said but something seemed off.

"Alright Paladins, time to get out of here." Allura said but no wormhole appeared.

"Hello? What's going on? I don't see a wormhole." Hunk said concerned.

"The Galra barrier is jamming our ability to create one." Coran cried out.

We had made it into one of the hangars and Shiro set the Red Lion down.

Suddenly multiple explosion were heard and the barrier keeping us in disappeared.

"What just happened?" Pidge asked.

"Who cares?! Wormhole!" Hunk said.

Allura created a wormhole and moved the castle in position to enter. The castle was almost all in when I felt a wave of dark energy surround us. The castle began to shake, and the alarms went off.

"Coran, what's going on?!" Shiro said.

"The integrity of the wormhole has been compromised! It's breaking down!"

"What does that mean?!" Lance exclaimed.

"It means we have no control of where we're headed!"

The ship brutally moved again, and we were suddenly sucked out of the hanger. We all screamed in panic as one by one we disappeared into the edge of the tunnel. I saw how everyone went into different directions. My lions hit the side of the tunnel and I blacked out.

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	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 **Songs of The Forgotten**

I woke up startled and gasped seeing the ground coming up fast, I didn't have a chance to slow down my decent before colliding with the ground. I held on to my seat with all my might trying not fly out off. My lion slid a couple more feet and finally came to a stop. I took a deep breath trying to calm my hammering heart, couple of breaths later, I tried moving my lion's handles, but she would not respond.

"That's alright, you need a break."

"Now let see where we are."

I climbed out of lion's head through the top to look at my surroundings. It seemed we had crashed on a frozen tundra. There was snow as far as the eye could see and giant mountains in the distance. I turned around and saw the trail that my lion made when we crashed. Wind blew through the frozen waste land and I was thankful for my inner fire that kept me warm.

 _I need to find a way to send a message to the others._

"This is Taylin, does anyone copy?" I said into my communicator but the only things I got back was static.

I was worried about them and where they might have landed. I remembered the strange feeling when Shiro said he was alright. Now that I remembered I could not possibly had been so mad at Keith for attacking Zarkon. It was Shiro that had fueled that anger, since I chose him, our emotions had become linked. I tried reaching out for him but came out blank. It felt like the connection I had with my Drako, dormant but still alive. I was alone in this frozen world.

I decided to explore my surroundings and try to find a way to radio the castle. My lion was not going anywhere, so in the meantime a little exploring couldn't hurt. I jumped from White's head, my jet pack slowed my decent. Thankfully the snow covering the ground was not too deep, it nearly covered my foot.

"Maybe someone lives in dose mountains that can help me reach the castle."

I began to walk towards the mountains, but I soon realized it was going to take forever trekking through the snow. The mountains looked closer than they appeared. I seemed to be moving towards them, but they did not seem to come any closer. I tried my jet back and jumped up in the air, came down, and did it again. I soon grew tired of jumping and landing and decided to sit down on the snow to take a break. I looked toward the mountains, but they still seemed too far away. I turned my head to see behind me and my lion looked like a small speck in the distance. I came to the conclusion that using my jet back was taking too long as well. I stood up and manifested my wings, I jumped up and took flight. I flew as high as the wind would let me; I could see that this planet was mostly frozen solid. Toward the bottom of the mountains I noticed a lake and where there is a lake people probably live nearby. I flapped my wings and shot forward using the wind currents to carry me there. I was making more progress flying and the mountains looked a lot nearer. I looked towards the lake I had seen and saw smoke that I had not noticed before. I changed my course and banked left towards that area. As I got closer, suddenly a shot was fired towards me and I closed my wings to lose altitude before it hit me. The ground was coming up quickly and I reopened my wings before impacting on the ground shooting up once again into the sky. Another shot was fired but this time I saw where it originated from. I drew my wings close to my body and shot forward even faster toward that direction. I noticed a person on the ground aiming at me and created a fire ball and blasted it toward them. They saw it and jumped out of the way before it could scorch their body. I landed hard on the ground scattering snow all around, the person was reaching for their gun, but I flicked it out of their grasp with one of my wings. They looked up at me with horror.

"Why are you trying to shoot me down?!"

He put his hands up in surrender.

"I…do you come to destroy are village?" He asked scared and his body trembled.

"What…no. I am only here because I crash landed and I'm looking for help. Why would you think I come to destroy you?"

He seemed to calm down after my statement.

"You're not one of them?"

"Who are you talking about?" I said confused.

"There are others on this planet that have bat like wings that come every other day and try to capture us for food."

My eyes widen at this.

"Well, I can assure you I am not one of those monsters." I stretched out my hand to him and he seemed hesitant at first but took it when I gave him a small smile pulling him up to his feet.

"I'm sorry for shooting you…I was just trying to protect my people."

"No worries just don't shoot me again." I said with a smirk and he gave me a smile.

He was covered with heavy layer of clothing that protected him from the cold. His skin was blue with markings that originated from his bottom lip and ended at his chin. He had bright blue eyes that looked at me with curiosity now.

"What are you?" He asked me.

"That's a nice way to start a conversation." I said with a chuckle.

"I-I mean…I"

I cut him off with a wave of my hand.

"I was just joking." And he seemed to lighten up.

"You seemed like a nice fellow so I'll tell. My name is Taylin and I am a Paladin of Voltron."

His eyes widened.

"Your one of them!"

"Yes, I crashed landed here after a big fight that we had with Zarkon."

"This is amazing!"

"Are there any Galra here?"

He stopped to think.

"I believe there is only one outpost here since our planet does not have much resources to offer but we are still considered part of the Empire."

"I see, is there any way you could help me radio my friends?"

"A…yes…sorry, follow me. In my village we have a communicator, it's a bit ancient but it should work." He said waving at me to follow.

"Thanks for the assist."

"No thanks necessary. Anything to help someone who fights against Zarkon and well…to make up for shooting you."

I smiled at him.

"What's your name?"

"My name is Lanex. I am the son of the chief of our village."

"Well it's nice to meet you Lanex."

He smiled at me and continued walking.

"How cool is it to be a Paladin?" He asked exited, fanning over me.

"It's pretty amazing. Hey, I meant to ask, what is the name of this planet?" I asked stopping him from asking another question.

"Oh, its Trinder."

Lanex lead me into a path that seemed to be walked on regularly since the snow was much thinner here. The forest began to cover the sky and the temperature lowered under the tree's shade. Most of the vegetation was covered in frost, I wondered how it could stay alive. Looking at the nearby leaves closer, I saw that their veins glowed a faint blue color.

"What do your people do for food?" I asked looking at everything frozen solid.

"There are small animals in the forest that we hunt for and we have warm greenhouses that allow us to grow eatable plants." He responded.

"If there are animals in the forest…then why do those creatures hunt your people for food?" I asked him.

"They like the chase. Hunting us is like a game, they like the resistance. It makes it more fun for them. We have tried to coexist with them for many generations, but they are savages, hungry for violence." He said sadly.

I guessed he must have lost a lot of friends to these monsters for him to react that way.

Lanex kept asking me small questions about Voltron and the fights I had been in, but I blocked him out when I heard a twig snap. I thought it was just one the small animals that Lanex had mentioned but then it happened again, I stopped. Lanex noticed and looked at me confused.

"Is everything alright?" He said and began to look around.

I heard a whoosh sound like when I draw my winds closer, suddenly, my eyes widened and pushed Lanex to the ground. One grey beast flew above us, it screeched when its talons missed us. It was pale grey with black eyes and had wings with some holes in them which I assumed Lanex's people had done.

"It's a monster!" Lanex said in horror.

He tried to aim his gun at it, but he seemed to be shaking too much to aim it.

"Stay behind me." I ordered not breaking eye contact with the creature.

It gave a load screech and jumped at me. We went tumbling to the ground, I kept its jaws from reaching my face. I summoned as much force as I could and kicked it off of me. I quickly stood up as it came at me again, my bayard appears in my hand in a form of sword and I stabbed it on the chest. It gave a loud roar and fell lifeless to the ground. I looked around for Lanex, he was leaning against a tree panting. Then more screeches were heard, and we looked up, four more creatures were headed are way.

"Lanex run! Go back to your village and get help now!" I ordered, he seemed to snap out of his trance. He ran towards the trail.

"I'll be back as soon as I can!" He yelled back and took off running.

I looked up at my attackers and jumped into the air. I spread my wings and threw myself at one of the creatures. It tried to claw at me, but I kicked its face and sliced one its wings. It screeched loudly, and the others came at me. I moved out of the way and flew higher into the sky. They were quick flyers easily catching up to me, I flapped my wings harder just as one was reaching for my foot. I turned around quickly and blasted it with a fire ball. It screamed in pain and went barreling down into the snow leaving a trail of smoke.

"Alright, whose next!"

One was coming at me from the left, I back flipped out of the way. I looped back and stabbed my sword into its abdomen. There was only one left but this one gave different type of screech and I realized it was calling for help. I flapped my wings back and sliced its head off before it could make any more noise, but it was too late. My ears picked up flapping sounds coming from behind me, I turned around to see two more approaching fast.

"Quiznak!"

I closed my wings and began to fall toward the trees and reopened them right before hitting the forest floor. I dodged trees flying close to the ground as the creature were trying to get to me. I flew towards a tree and moved out the way, causing one to crash on it. I kept on going and looked behind me only to see that more had joined the party.

"Oh, this is just great." I grunted.

Just then, I heard multiple shots being fired and I looked to my right. I saw that Lanex had brought help. They began to pick them off one by one. I set my course toward them, my eyes widen when I saw two beasts circling around behind them.

"Behind you!" I yelled.

And I used the ice element to create sharp icicles that penetrated their wings. The shooters turned around to finish them off. I landed in the middle of the circle they had formed and began to create ice barriers shielding us from incoming attacks. I turned around to see Lanex running to our aid shooting at one the beasts, bringing it down, but to my horror one was right after him. I send a strong wind that picked up the snow and threw the monster to the side. I formed an icicle and chucked it in its direction, penetrating its neck. Lanex reached me gasping for air.

"Thank you." He said out of breath.

I turned my attention back at the sky, these things kept appearing like a plague.

"Everyone take cover behind does big boulders!" I ordered, and they ran towards them. Lanex stayed behind with me and grabbed my arm.

"What are you doing?!"

"Just trust me and go hide!" I ordered, and he reluctantly left.

I drew on my power and began to move the wind to my advantage. The wind picked up speed and I shot a white ball on energy toward the clouds in the sky turning them dark grey. It began to snow lightly, I shifted the clouds until the sky was completely grey. I spread my wings and flew toward the menacing storm. I was so high up, my wings almost touched it. I spread my arms out and closed my eyes in concentration. The wind began to blow with more force whistling among the trees. The snow got heavier and came out in bigger quantities. I shot another white ball of energy into the clouds illuminating them briefly and the ice storm came down on the creatures with all its fury. They screeched in panic and tried to escape but I blocked them with wind twisters sending them flying to the ground. One of them screeched loudly and began to fly up, the others followed.

"You must be their leader." I said with a smirk.

I made the snow thicker until it was falling in the size of giant snow balls. They did not have time to react when they were hit. The minions tried to dodge them but failed and they too fell from the sky. Only the bigger creature was still in the air watching how the others fell. I took this opportunity and flew full speed towards it. I was just a few inched away from it when I hit it with a lightning bolt. The hit illuminated sky with bright white light and when it cleared, the creature fell toward the forest, crashed on a few trees before it finally hit the ground. I stopped the storm and made my way back to Lanex and his people. I landed, tucked in my wings and placed my hands on my knees. Creating the storm had used a lot of energy.

"That was amazing!" Lanex exclaimed and he ran towards me.

The rest of the villagers followed after him coming out of hiding. I straightened up and smiled at them. The villagers surrounded me and looked at me with amazement, they suddenly parted and one of them came forward.

"This is my father." Lanex said.

"It's very nice to meet you sir."

"Likewise. We thank you for saving our lives." He said with a smile.

"It was my pleasure to liberate your people from these horrid monsters."

"My people will forever be in your debt, we will remember you forever." He said vowing his head. "What is your name brave warrior?"

"My name is Taylin Fireheart, Queen of the Drakie." I introduced myself.

"You're a queen? Why didn't you tell me?" Lanex said shocked.

"It never came up." I said shrugging.

"Well Queen Fireheart my son has informed me that you need help contacting your friends for help. We will gladly assist you." He said.

I looked towards the sky and to my surprise, the Castle of Lions came into view through a wormhole.

"I thank you for your help, but I believe that won't be necessary."

They followed my gaze.

"My friends have found me."

I turned to look at him "Thank you for your kindness, just promise me when it's time to take the fight to Zarkon, you will assist."

"Me and my people will do so with much pleasure as we too want Zarkon gone."

"Taylin are you there?" I heard Allura on my helmet's comm.

"I'm here."

"Well I must be going now. Farewell and may the stars watch over you." I said and waved at them.

"You take care." Lanex said.

"Goodbye Lanex, I hope that someday are path cross again."

I made my way toward the castle that had just landed by the edge of the forest. I took flight, eager to reunite with my friends and Shiro. I landed close to the pod that would carry me up to the castle but before I walked in, I closed my eyes and reached my mind towards my lion.

 _It is time to go._ I told her.

She roared in response; I was glad she was functional again. I felt how she took off and when I opened my eyes she flew into her hanger. I entered the pod and when the doors once again opened for me, someone lunged at me hugging me tightly. I saw a glimpse of white hair and knew at once it was Allura. I hugged her back, glad to see her safe again.

"I'm so happy your back."

"Me too."

We let go.

"I'm so sorry we left you behind." I said sadly.

"Don't be, it was my decision." She placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Where are the others? Where you able to find them?" I asked.

"Yes, they are all on board but…" she put her hands together and looked down.

"What happened?" I asked her.

"Shiro is in a healing pod. He received a deep scratch from Hagar and on the planet, he landed, he was attacked by giant lizards, luckily Keith saved him." My eyes widen with each thing she mentioned.

She was about to say something else when I took off running toward the infirmary. I hadn't put my wings away and used them to lift me off the ground, flying through the hallways. I landed and walked in, Keith was standing in front of a pod.

"How is he?" I said urgently.

"He is stabilized, Allura said he should be out maybe tomorrow." He said glancing at me.

I walked toward the pod and placed my right hand on it as if I could somehow touch him. I wanted nothing more than to see his grey eyes and hold him tightly.

"Allura told me what happened…thanks for saving him." I said softly.

Keith moved to stand beside me.

"You don't have to thank me, Shiro would have done the same for me."

Allura walked in but I refused to look away from the pod.

"Taylin, Shiro will be fine, you need to get some rest." She said and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"This is where I belong…for now."

"Tay, do you know how I was able to locate you?"

I snapped out of my trance to look at her.

"The White Lion's energy signature?"

"No. I was able to pick up a massive energy signature that matched your quintessence."

"Ah yes… I created a storm."

"What happened? You have a cut on your cheek." She said pointing at the left side of my face.

I raised my hand to touch it and felt a bump there, I brought my hand down and there was dry blood. One of the creature must have gotten me but I was too concentrated on fighting them off to notice.

"Come let's clean that up." She said and lead me to the examination table. My wings disappeared as I jumped up on the table. She got a wet rag and began to clean my cut, after a few ticks she was done. I used my healing abilities and the scratch disappeared.

"Thanks, Allura."

She smiled at me.

"So, what happened to you on that planet?"

"Some creatures were attacking a nearby village, I decided to help them. I could not stand and watch those creatures hunt them down like sport."

"That sounds like you. Always the brave one." She said with a smile.

"Keith told me Shiro would be out tomorrow."

"Yes…he will be fine Taylin." She assured me, the calmness in her voice brought comfort to my heart.

"Then I'll take your advice and go rest a bit. I'm no good to Shiro in this state."

I jumped down and exited the infirmary. I was about to reach my room when Pidge came out of hers.

"Taylin! You're alright!"

She ran up to me and game me a hug.

"Hey Pidge. Yes, I'm fine." I hugged her back.

She looked at my state.

"You don't look alright."

"I'm really tired, the adrenaline running through my veins has passed. I'm just going to rest up a bit and head back to the infirmary."

She nodded and gave me a sad smile.

I walked into my room and headed into my bathroom. I began to remove my Paladin armor and noticed it was stained with the green blood from the creatures. I walked to the faucet and cleaned it up until it shined again. I step into my shower letting the water relax me. I thought of today's events feeling glad that the people of Lanex's village were free of those beasts. I stepped out and changed into my sleeping garments. I was about to get into bed when I thought of something else. Walking out, I entered Shiro's room. I climbed into his bed, grabbed one of his pillows and hugged it close, buried my face in it and his scent drifted me off to sleep.

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	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

 **Shiro's Escape**

I was deeply asleep when I felt someone shake my shoulder softly, I ignored it since I was really comfortable, and buried my face deeper into the pillow. They shook my shoulder again and I opened my eyes to see Allura sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Allura…what's going on?" I said sleepily rubbing my eyes.

"I just wanted to check up on you but when I looked in your room, you were gone. I was worried about you." She said concerned.

"Don't worry. I'm fine, I was just more tired than I thought." I finished with a yawn.

She looked around the room and her eyes landed back on me.

"What are you doing in here anyways?"

"I guess…I wanted to be close to Shiro, so I came here to sleep."

"You really do love him, don't you?" She said with a smile.

"I do, more than you can imagine." I sighed.

"I'm glad you found someone that is as devoted to you as you are to them."

She stood up and looked down at me.

"Come get ready, Shiro will be out of the pod soon. I am sure he would like to see you there since we had to practically shove him in there." She smirked.

"Why did you have to do that?" I asked confused.

"He did not want to go in the pod until you were found."

I was surprised at her statement, but I would have done the same. I wouldn't care if I was hurt, I would hurt a little more just to see him safe. I got out of bed and stepped on the cold floor.

"I'll see you in the infirmary, the rest will be there as well." And she walked out.

I followed soon after and went into my bedroom to change. I changed into my white dress with gold lace that adorned my chest. I left my hair down and placed my crown around my forehead. I saw my reflection in the mirror and walked out of my room.

I had grabbed something to eat and headed towards the infirmary not even bothering to taste my food. The doors opened for me and I was met with the familiar faces of my fellow Paladins. Lance jumped up from where he was sitting.

"Taylin! Glad you made it!" He came up to me to give me a side hug.

"Hey everyone. I'm happy everyone made it back to the castle." I said.

"Yeah…it was like so scary and we met some mermaids that wanted to kill us. It was so horrible." Hunk muttered.

"You think killer mermaids are bad, try giant grey killer monsters with wings, eyes as black as the night sky, and talons shaper than knives." I said.

Hunk looked scared at my description.

"Yeah…that sounds scary."

"Wow, are you ok?" Pidge asked.

"Yeah, the only thing they gave me was a scratch on the side of my face, I was able to heal but I lost count of how many I took down. These things kept coming at me like a plague but with the help of the villagers, we took them down." I said.

"Yeah, Allura said she locked on your energy signature. What did you do?" She asked me eagerly.

"I used the planet's natural environment and created a super snow storm that killed them off." I said like it was nothing, but their faces said otherwise. My powers were a big part of me and using them had become just as normal as breathing. They stopped surprising me when all eleven of them had manifested, each one with a different challenge.

"That is so cool!" Lance exclaimed.

I smiled at them, and suddenly Shiro yelped, I ignored everyone and ran up to the pod. He seemed to be in distress and his whole face contorted in pain, sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Allura what going on!?" I asked urgently.

"Sometimes the healing process can cause involuntary brain wave reactions." Allura explained to me.

Shiro kept moving his head side to side, his body trembled.

"He looks like he's having a bad dream." Hunk said.

"He just got blasted by a space witch and mauled by giant lizards. What dream can be worse than that?" Keith muttered and looked at Shiro with worry.

Shiro continued in this state for a few more ticks until he finally opened his eyes slowly. Everyone came rushing to stand in front of the pod as it opened, Keith quickly went to help him step out. I moved toward him and he looked up at me.

"Taylin…your here." He said weakly.

I touched his shoulder.

"Always will be." I hugged him close to me.

The stress for the last two days washed away with his embrace, I felt relieved to be in his arms again. I never knew I could miss someone this bad. We pulled apart, but I kept my hands on his arms.

"Allura told me what happened. Why didn't you tell me you were hurt by Haagar?" I asked.

"I didn't want to worry you." He said looking at me in the eyes.

I could not bring myself to be mad at him, his face reflected sincerity. I smiled and touched his face.

"I need to explain something but first I'm going to go get dressed." He said.

I was confused at what he wanted to explain but decided to not pressure him.

"Keith can you please accompany him? I don't want him to fall." I asked.

He nodded and led Shiro towards the exit, I watched them go.

"Aww, you two love birds." Lance teased, I just rolled my eyes.

Shiro was back dressed in his usual attire, we made our way toward Pidge's lab.

He mentioned that during his time in the healing pod, he had a flashback of how he escaped the Galra prison ship. He also mentioned an organization called the Blade of Marmora and one of them had helped him escape. Shiro remembered this Galra had transferred coordinates into his prosthetic arm.

Pidge connected his arm to her computer and analyzed the data for any coordinates. Shiro sat down with his arm on the table, I stood behind him with my hands on his shoulders.

"I'm not finding any of these coordinates, are you sure that wasn't a dream?" Pidge asked.

"I'm positive, someone helped me escape." Shiro responded.

"And he was Galra. You know you cannot trust them." Allura retaliated with anger in her voice.

"You father must have trusted them once. Zarkon was the original Black Paladin, wasn't he?" I froze at this statement and looked at the floor. Allura did not know what to say and she looked away as well.

"I guess that would explain how Zarkon could steal the Black Lion from right under Shiro's nose and how he could do all those things with his Bayard. Shiro's Bayard, you know the black one." Keith muttered.

"Why didn't you tell us this?" Shiro asked, I felt my stomach drop.

"I wanted to protect you from the dark history of the Paladins, so that you could have a chance to bond with your lions on your own. You are the Black Paladin now, not Zarkon." Allura said.

"Well the Black Lion may have a different take on that." Shiro said under with breath.

"The Black Lion chose you Shiro, and it could have returned to Zarkon at any time, but it didn't. Zarkon is trying to manipulate the Black Lion by using his dark magic to use it for his own selfish gain. I assure you that the Black Lion knows that." I said defending Allura and walked around to stand in front of him.

"How can you be so sure?" He asked.

"Because I have felt it. Might I remind you that as the White Lion's Paladin, I form the heart and wings of Voltron. I don't only have a connection with my lion but when we form Voltron, I can feel all of them." I finished crossing my arms.

"Wait a second! I think I see it now." Pidge exclaimed breaking my eye contact with him.

We turned to see Pidge's screen.

"There are some repeated numbers on this Galra code. Let me extract them."

She began to type faster and pushed herself to another screen.

"They are coordinates!" She exclaimed.

"Then that's where we're headed." Shiro said.

"Shiro, are you sure you can trust this? I mean, after everything that the Galra had done to you. They…they took your arm." Keith asked concerned.

"It's worth the risk, someone helped me escape. If we can find allies in our fight against Zarkon, especially ones on his side, we might just find a way to take him down." Shiro answered.

"We'll check it out, but I do not like this. The Galra are not to be trusted." Allura said firmly.

She began to head to the control room and the others followed behind. It was only me and Shiro in the Green Lion's hangar.

"I'm sorry I did not tell you sooner." I told him meeting his gaze.

He was still sitting down, he turned he gaze toward the table. Our connection was still something new to me that needed more exploring but only time could provide a better understanding. I was still trying to figure out his emotions but not like Storm, we did not grow up together to know each other inside and out.

I walked to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We will find a way for you to create a stronger bond with your lion Shiro, but you must be patient."

He sighed but he kept his gaze down. I moved his arm and sat down on his lap, causing Shiro to look up. I took hold of his face and leaned my forehead on his, closed my eyes and sighed. I felt how his arm wrapped around my body.

"I love you." I said softly, and I was met with his lips on mine. It felt like our first kiss all over again, soft and gentle. I opened my eyes and we pulled away a bit.

"I love you too…I'm sorry for lying to you." He said and leaned his head into my touch.

"It does not matter now, all I care about it that you are healed and safe here with me."

He smiled at my comment and placed his hand on top of my mine. He made the move to stand as I got off his lap. He took my hand and we walked towards the control room.

Coran was inputting the coordinates Pidge found in Shiro's arm. I was sitting in my seat and looking at a map of the galaxy.

"Everyone ready?" Coran asked.

I looked up as the familiar blue wormhole appeared, when we made it to the other side we were met with a view of thousands of crystals floating in the vastness of space.

"What type of crystals are dose?" I asked.

"Those are Xantharium clusters and I suggest not going any closer. They hold highly unstable nitrate salts. One touch and it could send the ship to Wozbly." Coran explained.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Shiro asked.

"These are the coordinates number 6 gave me." Coran stated.

"Hey! My decryption is solid!" Pidge yelled offended.

"Well, we've checked the place and found nothing. I suggest we get out of here." Allura said untrusting.

"No, there must be more to this. I think we should wait." Shiro said unbelieving and Allura waited for a few more ticks.

Nothing seemed to be happening, that is, until the alarms went off making me jump from my seat.

"There's an intruder in the castle!" Coran exclaimed.

"How could someone just steal on board the ship?!" Lance exclaimed over the alarm.

"I knew coming here was a mistake." Allura growled and displayed all cameras.

"He's on the fifth level."

"Everyone suit up." Shiro ordered, I ran out of the control room. I opened a portal using my powers and ran through and ended up in my room. I quickly changed into my Paladin armor and summoned my Bayard in the form of a bow. I opened another portal and ended up in a hallway on the fifth level.

"I got him." Lanced said over the comm.

"Keep eyes on him Lance, we're headed your way." Shiro said.

I located Lance with my mind and ran toward his location, I heard shooting at a distance. I could not open a portal to Lance's location since I need a clear image of where I was going.

"Careful he's faster than an angry Klanmural. Oh, but he can jump like a springy globinhefer." Coran said over the intercom.

"Coran you're not helping!" Lance complained, I heard shooting again.

"Oh, someone's mad as a wet tuber." Coran said.

"Careful number 6, he's heading your way." He warned.

"How fast can this guy run!" I complained and changed course.

"I've got him!" Pidge exclaimed but then I heard her grunting.

"He's dragging Pidge away!" Coran exclaimed.

"Seriously!" I ran faster.

I knew I was getting near when I heard Pidge screaming and gun shots.

"Ahh! Hunk!" Pidge yelled.

"Oh Sorry…"

"Oh, looks like Hunk failed the team." Coran commented.

"Well it looks like it's up to Keith now."

"Copy that, I'm ready." Keith said.

"Oh, this is exciting, he's got a sword. One young Paladin, one seemingly indestructible foe." Coran said like they would say in an arena fight.

"Coran be quiet!" I yelled.

I came around a corner and saw Keith fighting a figure dressed in black. He was about to hit him, but missed and stumbled, he recovered and kept running. Pidge was still trailing behind the intruder, I shot an arrow at Pidge's lasso that cut her off.

"She has one heck of an aim!" Coran exclaimed.

I ran toward Pidge and picked her up but immediately kept on running. Keith had managed to stop him, they were now fighting, their swords clashed loudly. Keith loss his footing and he was about to get hit by the intruder when I jumped in and blocked the blow with my bow. I pushed him back and I went in for another hit. He turned around to run again but was met with Shiro's prosthetic hand on his neck and the intruder had his sword inches away from Shiro's neck. I readied my bow and aimed at his head waiting for him to make any sudden move. The intruder stepped back slowly and removed their hood and the mask vanished revealing a Galra.

"Ulaz?" Shiro said shocked.

Allura suddenly appeared and pushed him to the wall with one hand.

"Who are you?!" She demanded.

"Wait, stop! This is the Galra who helped me escape." Shiro said.

Allura glared up at him and finally let him go and Coran came running in with cuffs. He placed them around his wrists and we moved him to the lounge where Coran cuffed his legs together and ran back to the control room.

"Is that really necessary, I mean he's not going anywhere." I said looking at Ulaz.

"I will not have some quiznaking Galra on the bridge of my ship." Allura said sternly glaring at him.

"If I wanted to kill you, you would have been dead already." Ulaz said calmly.

"Are your Galra threats suppose to win my trust?" Allura asked with venom in her voice.

"What I am trying to do is win a war." He responded. He looked at Shiro, "And because of Shiro, we are closer than we've ever been. Our gamble on you paid off better than we could have ever imagined."

I frowned at his statement, I did not want Shiro to be a pawn in their game.

"When you released me, you mentioned that there were others working with you." Shiro said.

"Yes, we are called the Blade of Marmora." Ulaz responded.

"Others? Ummm, are they like here too?" Hunk asked nervously.

"Hunk, can you try not to act so scared in front of the chained-up prisoner? It makes us seem a little lame." Lance said annoyed and crossed his arms.

"No, I am alone on this base." Ulaz answered.

"What base? There is nothing here, we checked." I retorted.

"The base is hidden. Now that I know that it is Shiro that has come, you are welcome to our outpost. It lies dead ahead." Everyone looked at him expressionless.

"Behind the Xanthorium clusters?" Pidge asked not believing him.

"No, right in front of them. It is in a hidden pocket of space time." Ulaz said calmly.

"Coran are you hearing this?" Allura spoke up, not believing anything Ulaz had said.

"I'm picking up some anomaly on the screens, I suppose it could be a cloaked base." Coran said over the intercom.

"Just fly straight through to the center of the Xanthorium clusters. You will see." Ulaz said.

"Do you really think I'm going to get our ship destroyed just because you say so?!" Allura growled.

I looked straight into Ulaz's eyes and touched his mind searching for his real intentions.

 _If you are looking for execrable intentions, you will find non._ He thought and opened his mind to me. I searched through his memories and found when he freed Shiro from prison. He brought them to the front of his mind for me to see.

 _Does this suffice?...Night Stalker._ He asked, and I withdrew from his mind.

"Shiro, you know I trust you, but this doesn't feel right." Keith said.

"And you know how much I hate to agree with Keith, but it's a big fat ditto for me." Lance muttered.

"The Galra could have implanted fake memories of your escape in your head." Pidge said.

"Oh, come on, that would be so evil…which they are…but they would have to come up with some molecular level storage unit which…his hand does have…but to be linked up to memory, it would require a direct pathway to his brain which…yeah." Hunk finished his thought.

"Ulaz freed me, without him we wouldn't be here." Shiro said firmly.

After examining his mind for any bad intentions and what he had shown me, I knew Ulaz was telling the truth.

"I believe him." I said, and everyone looked at me wide eyed.

"I examined his mind and I found no intention of harming us." I said, Shiro sighed relived.

"Fine, slow and steady Coran, head for the Xanthorium clusters." Allura ordered.

"Yes Princess, beginning approach. Impact imminent in five, four, three, two…well that's something?"

"What is it?" She asked him.

"Putting up of the screen now." On cue, the screen appeared and showed a tunnel.

"Amazing! They're folding space!" Pidge said fascinated.

"It's like a space taco or a space calzone, or a space time soup dumpling and we're the soup. Hey is there a cafeteria on this thing?" Hunk asked.

I gave him a look and had no clue what foods he was talking about.

The castle exited the tunnel and in front of us stood a ship.

"Welcome to the Blade of Marmora Communications Base Thaylicon." Ulaz said. "Now, if you'll free me I need to send a message to the leadership. They need to know I've made contact with Voltron." He stood up.

"Go with him and keep an eye on him. I'll stay here." Allura said looking at me.

"Oh, can we go!" Hunk asked way to exited.

"I want to see how they made the space pocket!" Pidge joined in.

"You guys go ahead. I'll hang back and protect the Princess." Lance said with a grin that made Allura sigh in annoyance and roll her eyes.

I waved my hand and Ulaz's hand cuffs fell off. We headed toward the Red Lion's hangar and boarded.

"This is the gravity generator that creates the space time fold that hides the base. It was created by a reclusive genius engineer named Slav. His technology allows The Blade of Marmora to remain hidden while we work to take down the Galra empire. Zarkon would do anything to get his hands on this technology." Ulaz explained as we got closer.

"So, there are Galra out there who aren't loyal to Zarkon…" Keith murmured.

"We thought that expanding the Galra empire would bring stability. We learnt too late that the tyrant doesn't seek stability, only power." Ulaz responded.

"Your own people are slaves of Zarkon's deception." I said, he nodded.

We landed on the base and the hanger doors opened. Ulaz lead us to the base's control room, he typed on the control panel and a map of Zarkon's ship appeared. "With our members working on the inside, planning coordinated attacks with Voltron, we may finally have a chance."

"So, you have agents working within Zarkon's ranks?" Hunk asked.

"How do you think you got away from Zarkon in the last fight?" Ulaz said sarcastically and turned to look at Hunk.

 _Well that clears that up._

"Do you think those shields went down on their own? We've got people risking their lives in this war, just like you." He added.

"If you have people on the inside, can they tell me where my family is? They were taken the same time as Shiro was." Pidge asked him hopefully.

"I knew others from Earth were captured, though I never saw them, but I have records of Galra prisoners, I can transmit them to your ship." Ulaz said and went back to the control panel.

"What's that weapon you carry?" Keith asked.

Ulaz pulled out his sword from his back and showed it to Keith, "It's a ceremonial blade, each member of our group carries this."

Keith looked at it then turned away like it was not interesting, suddenly the alarms went off.

"You were tracked!" Ulaz exclaimed.

"Us?" Pidge said shocked.

"If Zarkon knows we're here, it's because you ratted us out!" Keith accused Ulaz.

The ship looked familiar like the once we have fought before, it opened to reveal a robot beast.

"We have to get back to the ship!" Shiro ordered.

"Wait." Ulaz stopped us.

"These are instructions of how to reach the Blade of Marmora headquarters. Before you go, find how Zarkon is tracking you. If you lead him there, our entire underground network, everything we've spent centuries building will be lost." He turned to look at me. "Be careful Night Stalker, Zarkon wants your power and will stop at nothing to get it." He warned and turned back to the controls.

I wanted to ask him want he meant but Shiro pulled me along with him, we ran and boarded the Red Lion and flew back to the castle.

"I knew he couldn't be trusted!" Allura said angered in the screen she appeared on.

"It wasn't his fault." Shiro defended.

"How can you be sure?!" She shot back.

"It doesn't matter now! What should we do?" Coran asked.

"Why can't we hide in the space clam and wait for it to go away?" Hunk suggested.

"That's actually a good idea." I said.

"Alright, everyone get to your lions but don't launch. I don't want to risk fighting if we don't have to." Shiro instructed.

I got off Red and ran to my hanger and climbed into White, she turned on at my touch and stood up. "Easy girl, we are waiting on orders." A screen popped up on my control panel of the robot monster taking position right in front of the space pocket. It opened its enormous mouth and began to suck in the Xanthorium clusters into itself. "What is it doing?" I asked bewildered. It had sucked in a big chuck of the crystals that lied just outside and suddenly fired a red beam at the other clusters creating multiple explosions.

"I think it knows we're here." Hunk said panicking.

I grabbed on to my lions handles harder, ready for anything.

"Hold….hold." Shiro said making us stay in position.

It sucked in more of the clusters and fired again but this time its beam was closer to the castle. It ran out of power and began the process over again. The force of the suction began to move the castle.

"He's pulling us in as well!" Allura cried trying to move the castle in the opposite direction. "Paladins! I think it's time to launch!"

"Form Voltron!" Shiro orders.

We were launch out of our hangars and immediately our lions began to form Voltron. Once we had transformed, I flew Voltron out of the space pocket finally revealing us to the robot beast. We flew straight towards it and the Red Lion punched it right on the face causing it to shoot upward. The space pocket began to malfunction, and it soon disappeared revealing the castle and the Marmora base. I moved our position right in front of the castle to give Allura time to set the castle's defenses to maximum percent.

"Oh, there goes Ulaz." Coran said as the ship disappeared from view.

"I knew we should never trust a Galra." Allura growled.

"I don't blame him, look at that thing." I said pointing out the size of the monster.

We headed back into action, Keith and Pidge shot lasers at the robot both hitting their target, but the beast seemed undamaged. It once again began to suck in the crystals getting ready for another attack.

"He's loading in more ammo!" Pidge exclaimed, I quickly pulled on my handles moving Voltron away from the blast. The beam missed us, but it hit the clusters behind us causing many explosions at once. We began to dodge them, suddenly, a force pulled us back, it was the robot trying to draw us towards it.

"This thing wants to eat us like we're a space taco!" Hunk cried out.

We were now closer to the monster, Lance and Hunk positioned Voltron's feet on the side of the robot's mouth to avoid getting sucked in.

"Can't… get free…" Shiro grunted.

"I'll make him back off!" Keith yelled, and his jaw blade appeared, he stabbed the robot making it growl in pain giving us a chance to get free.

"We gotta keep some distance between us and that thing." Shiro said.

I helped Shiro pilot Voltron away from the monster, just then it fired another shot hitting the Xanthorium clusters. Explosions surrounded us, and the beast used that as a distraction to try and suck us in again. Lance and Hunk activated the reverse thrusters to try to stop it from pulling further.

'I'm burning thrusters at full capacity! It's not making any difference!" Lance exclaimed, the monster drew us in without much of an effort. We were about to hit the monster when suddenly a blue beam hit the robot. The beam caused and explosion that pushed us away from the beast.

"Is everyone alright?" Allura said and positioned the castle closer for another attack.

"Alive, yes. Alright no." Lance muttered.

The beast changed its course and began to suck the clusters closes to the castle. Some of the clusters hit the castle's barrier causing them to explode.

"It's going for the castle!" Keith yelled.

"We need something to stop its tractor beam!" Pidge shouted.

"I have an idea, Pidge form shield." Shiro ordered.

The shield soon appeared in front of the Green Lion, we moved Voltron towards the beast. It began to suck us in, but Pidge shoved the shield into its mouth stopping its tractor beam.

"What's next?" I asked.

"Now we go on the offensive." Shiro answered.

"We can use the Xanthorium clusters!" Pidge suggested.

I flew Voltron towards the beast and pushed it toward the clusters, I stopped, and it went flying into them. It was about to hit when Pidge recalled the shield, the beast hit inclosing it in the explosions. The explosions illuminated the area, but suddenly a beam came out of it and Pidge blocked it just in time. The beam hit us head on, the alarms soon began to blare in our ears.

"The shield can't handle this much power!" Pidge said panicked.

The shield soon gave away and the monster sucked us in once again. I concentrated and formed a shield with my powers right in front of us, slowing us down a bit. Lance and Hunk came to my aid by activating the thrusters, but the tractor beam was just too strong.

"We might not be strong enough to beat this thing!" Hunk yelled clearly panicking as always.

"Hang on!" Ulaz's voice came over the comm.

"Ulaz!?" Shiro said shocked at his sudden appearance. His ship was flying toward the beast.

"I'm going to take it down from the inside." Ulaz said.

"No wait! We will find another way!" I exclaimed.

"Voltron is too valuable; the universe needs you." Ulaz said with serenity.

His ship went inside the beast's mouth, but it still remained operational. We got ready for another attack, I reinforced the shield but then the beast froze and began to shake.

"Ulaz opened up the space pocket from the inside! It's folding in on itself!" Pidge exclaimed.

The beast began to suck in on itself becoming smaller and smaller until it disappeared creating a bright purple light. I looked at where it use to be, it had left a bare spot of crystals. We all sat there still processing what had happened.

"He saved our lives." I broke the silence.

"He did it." Hunk said.

"Ulaz saved us." Keith added.

"He's…gone…" Shiro said sadly.

Everyone headed back to their hangars, I went to my room to remove my armor. I changed into what I was wearing before and went to find Shiro. I knew the loss of Ulaz was hard, I wanted to be there for him. I found him in the observatory looking at the stars, I walked towards him and stood next to him in silence. I remember our time back on Arius, when we were outside the castle doing the same thing, gazing up at the stars. The doors of the observatory opened.

"Sorry that we doubted Ulaz, he saved all our lives." Keith said softly.

"I still have so many questions…" Shiro said troubled.

"Do you think Zarkon's really tracking us?" Keith asked and in walked Allura.

"We cannot know for sure, only Ulaz knew our whereabouts." She said, I turned to look at her. She seemed to still blame Ulaz for the recent events.

"You don't really think Ulaz gave us up? After all that he did." Shiro asked annoyed at her.

"I don't know." She answered.

"Allura is their one thing that I learned from my mother, is that all beings deserve a chance at redemption and everyone has the capacity to change." I told her. "I saw into his mind Allura and he had no intention of causing us harm."

"Yeah! Maybe Zarkon found this place on his own. He's probably been searching for the Blade of Marmora." Keith shot at her.

Allura's expression remained unchanged and showed no emotion towards Ulaz's sacrifice. "It's clear the loss of Ulaz has caused you great concern, but regardless of how Zarkon tracked us, we cannot stay here any longer. It isn't safe." Allura changed the subject.

"We should meet up with the rest of Ulaz's group, finish what we've started." Keith suggested.

"No. We're not going to their headquarters until we figure out how Zarkon is tracking us. We can't risk losing the only allies we have in this war." Shiro said.

Allura sighed and walked out and Keith nodded at him and also left. Shiro turned back at the stars, I walked closer to him and took a hold of his arm making him turn to look at me.

"I know you have many questions, but I assure you that we will find the answers your looking for…together." I said softly.

I leaned my head on his arm and closed my eyes.

"Thank you for having so much faith in me." He said.

I lifted my head to look at him.

"No. You don't have to thank me, you have my undying trust. I will always be here for you." I told him with a small smile.

He turned and took hold of both my hands, he seemed lost in thought and rubbed circles on the tops of them.

"What did I do to deserve you?" He asked finally looking at me.

"It's not about deserving, it's about destiny. I believe it was my destiny to sleep for 10,000 years as yours was to become the Black Paladin. Nothing happens without reason and if we are here together…it was meant to be." I said studying him.

He smiled and took me into his arms and together we gazed at the stars.

After our nice time on the castle's observatory, we decided to head to bed. We walked back to our rooms hand in hand, I had managed to get Shiro to laugh by telling him one of my childhood stories. We stopped at my door and he scratched his head nervously.

"Is something wrong?" I asked still smiling from laughing so hard.

"No, its just…I wanted to ask if you wanted to spend the night with me, like last time. Ever since that night, I had less nightmares." He side nervously.

"Sure, I would love that. Go change and meet me in my room." I told him with a smile and walked in closing the door behind me.

I changed into my sleeping garments and heard a knock on my door. I opened it and Shiro was there waiting and he seemed to have gotten over his nervousness.

"Come on in." I told him stepping out of the way.

He came in and looked around my room. It was definitely bigger than his and had a bed twice as large. The back of my bed had a window where you could see the stars, I usually sat there when I could not sleep.

"Wow, your room is amazing." He said in awe.

"Thank you, I like it too." I said with a chuckle.

He turned back to me with a smile and step closer to me. He took hold of my waist and brought me closer and he connected his lips to mine. I was a bit surprised at his action but then I closed my eyes and kissed him back. His right hand began to move up my back until it was on my neck. His thumb grazed my cheek and he held me as he would hold a delicate flower. I placed my arms around his neck and brought him closer to me, deepening the kiss. He began to move us back and my knees met the side of the bed and we fell on it.

"Wow!" I exclaimed, we looked at each other and began to laugh.

He came closer again and met my lips with more urgency, I felt his hand land on my hip and pull me even closer until our bodies touched. I began to explore with my hands from his abdomen to his chest causing a low growl from him. He disconnected our lips and began to trail kisses down my neck. I felt a tingle that I had never felt before and moaned. After a few more ticks of kissing my neck, he gave me a kiss on my cheek and slightly pulled away. We were both out of breath, I gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"What was that for?" I said with a smile.

"I was scared of losing you when you disappeared in the wormhole. I missed your presence when we finally got rescued." He said.

"I missed you too." I said placing a hand on his face.

"Pidge told me what happened, were you hurt?"

"No, I came out with just a scratch, nothing major."

"You never cease to amaze me." He said poking at my stomach.

I recoiled with a laugh.

"Oh, so your ticklish." He said with a smirk and went for my stomach again.

"Wait, no… stop!" I said laughing.

I tried getting away, but he only tickled me harder.

"Shiro…come on…stop." I said between laughs.

He eventually stopped, and I breathed in relief.

"I will get you one of these days." I said playfully.

"Sure, you will." He mocked.

He laid back down on the bed placing his head on the pillow. I crawled to his side placing my head on his chest and he wrapped an arm around me. He gave me a kiss on the top of my head and after a few ticks we fell into deep slumber.

Thanks for reading!

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	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

 **Greening the Cube**

Allura thought it would be a great idea to dedicate today to fixing the castle. We were floating out in space in our Paladin armor, all six of us, trying to repair the castle's shield system.

"Let's hurry with these repairs, Zarkon could be here any moment." Shiro said.

Hunk went up to the control panel and twisted a handle making it rise up from the surface.

"Ok panels up. Now what?" Hunk asked.

"Very simple. Just loosen the blaxums on the somoflage." Coran instructed, we stared at the pillar confused.

"Could you be more specific?" Hunk asked.

"Sorry Hunk, he means the poklons on the agroclams." Allura corrected, but it still made no sense.

"No that doesn't help..." Hunk muttered.

"Easy Hunk, I got this." Lance said and pushed him aside.

"Wait Lance I don't think..." I tried to stop him, but he began to press random buttons and knobs. The control panel lit up red and the reflector panels did so as well, the alarms rung in our ears.

"Uh oh...that can't be good..." Lance muttered.

"Seriously!" I glared at him.

"No! Not the smaltens, the poklons!" Allura exclaimed.

"No, it's the blaxums." Coran stated.

"Make up your mind!" I shot back at them.

Pidge moved quickly towards the control panel and pressed some buttons and turned a few knobs causing the alarm to stop.

"There." Pidge smiled.

"Well done Pidge." Allura praised.

"The tech on this ship never ceases to amaze me. It's so mathematically elegant. It's fit as 100 times more frictionless than any exoskeleton we have on Earth. It's... beautiful." Pidge said having another fanning moment.

"It's not a sunset Pidge..." Lance said breaking her moment.

"You're right. A billion sunsets just happen every day. Some genius engineer actually built this." Pidge said blankly.

"Looks like a big delicious curly fry, huh?" Hunk said as the control panel was returning to its place but suddenly he got hit by a blob on his helmet.

I looked around and saw hundreds of them heading our way.

"Ok, we're prepared for this." Shiro said activating his shield. I put my right arm up and materialized my shield before one of them could hit me.

"Remember your rogue projectile cluster training back in the Garrison. First we need a temporary shelter-Wha!" He was cut off when one of the blob hit the back of his head. He turned around and looked shocked.

"Oh, sorry Shiro. I was trying to hit Keith." Lance apologized but suddenly he was hit on the face too.

"Heh, like that?" Keith smirked with another one ready to throw. I tried not to snicker at Lance's expression.

"Ha-ha yes! Squishy asteroid fight!" Hunk yelled and grabbed one in each hand and threw them at us.

I put up my shield avoiding getting hit and grabbed one of the blobs and threw it at Hunk which hit him right on his back. Everyone else joined in, throwing the blobs like they were snowballs.

"Alright guys..." Shiro said trying to get us to calm down but I shut him up by throwing one right at him, he raised his shield just in time.

"Oh, now it's on" he said.

I moved out of the way when he chucked one at me and hid behind Hunk alongside Lance who was already using him as a shield. I grabbed one and threw it at Keith's side and began to laugh leaving my left side exposed. He took the opportunity and threw one back hitting the side of my arm.

"Ahhh!" I yelled and stopped laughing.

"I'm coming for you!" I yelled, Keith retreated behind his shield.

I noticed Pidge had not joined the fight, she was analyzing one of the blobs with interest.

"I don't think these are asteroids." She said.

"Then what are they? Wo-!" I said ducking before one hit my head. "Lance you traitor!" I yelled and used my powers to take hold of six blobs and threw them at him, he stood no chance. I hit him from all angles too quick for him to react, he looked as if a giant had sneezed on him and covered him with mucus.

"Coran I'm gonna need a containment unit." Pidge said and grabbed one of the blobs.

"Just a tick." Coran responded over the comm.

"They appear to be some sort of hyper resilient spore." Allura observed.

"A spore in space?" I asked.

"This bioluminescent pulling doesn't seem natural. It appears to be programmed, I think it's a code." Pidge said placing one inside the containment unit.

"A code? From who?" Hunk joined in and got hit by Lance.

"I don't know, I mean it makes no sense, you can't program a spore." Pidge said to herself observing the one she had.

I brought one closer to eye level to look at it.

"Well if anyone can figure it out, it's you Pidge." Shiro said lowering his shield.

I saw the perfect opportunity and I took it, hitting him on the side of the head. His expression was priceless, I let out a laugh. "I told you I would get you back!" I exclaimed, his annoyed face turned into a smirk remembering last night.

"Before that, everyone needs to come in for decontamination." Allura said, we flew in into the large ready room.

Hot water began to drop down from the ceiling like a shower and jets began to spray us with soap. I began scrub my armor to get all the goo of me. Then, the room flooded with water until we were all swimming in it. I back flipped in the water enjoying the swim, after a few more ticks the water was all drained out. We got blasted with wind turbines, Shiro removed his helmet loving the feel of the wind on his face. I stood beside him but suddenly the wind became stronger pushing me back. I grabbed on to his arm holding me in place, but Pidge did not have the same luck and went flying towards the wall.

I was in the kitchen eating something with Allura when Pidge spoke over the speakers.

"Guys, check this out."

"I guess she found something." I said, we walked toward the Green Lion's hangar.

Everyone else soon followed, we were looking at the spore floating inside the containment tube.

"Oh, I've seen this experiment but quick question, why do we need electricity from a potato?" Hunk asked.

"What? No, no. I was able to crack the spore code." Pidge said typing away on her computer. "I ran a bioluminescent pattern through a variety of code breaking sequences, including this homemade virtual Turing machine." She said adjusting her glasses. "Of course, I had to make a few tweaks to the original design because obviously there have been several advancements since he designed it. Although you have to admit, Turing was a shining light in the world of science in an age where far too many were still-" she got off track and Keith brought her back.

"Just tell us what it says!" He said irritated.

He was off at a corner with his arms crossed, a scowl on his face.

 _What got into him?_ I wondered.

Pidge turned back to her computer.

"Under attack...Galra...Help. And then there are coordinates." She read from her screen.

"Whoever they are, they must have been overrun by the Galra by now." I said.

"Good work Pidge, get those coordinates to the castle's navigation system." Shiro told her.

I went back into my room to quickly change into my Paladin armor and headed to the control room. Coran was inputting the coordinates Pidge found into the castle's navigation system.

"The signal came from the Olkarion, home to the Olkari. A proud class of engineers, builders of vast cities that could change shape at the whim of their creators." He said and pulled up an image of the planet.

Allura explained these people had the ability to manipulate solid metal to create anything they wished. Pidge looked awed at the planet with every word she said.

"Wow, they can manipulate metal just like me." I said surprised.

My father has once mentioned to me there were other races with the ability to manipulate elements just like the Drakie. Since I was practically born into a galaxy at war, I did not get to-do much exploring. My parents wanted to keep me safe on Negetia but that all changed when I found out about the war and confronted my father to let me fight for my people.

Coran pulled something out of his pocket that looked like a cube.

"An Olkari once gave me this!" And the cube hovered out of his hand.

"What is it?" Lance asked.

"Uh hello? It's a floating cube. And watch this!" He said pointing at it.

"My name is Coran and I'm a gorgeous man." The cube repeated his same exact words in his voice. Pidge looked like she was about to explode of excitement, her eyes sparkled.

"Why would a society full of literal tech wizards use spores to send a distress signal?" Keith asked.

"Who cares! When do we get to see this city?!" She exclaimed.

"Actually Pidge, the distress signal isn't coming from the city. It's coming from the forest." Allura said.

Pidge's face changed and looked peeved, she really wanted to see this city. Allura put an image of an immense forest up on the screens.

We were now on our lions headed for the planet's surface, and when the clouds cleared, the forest came into view. I looked in awe, it reminded me of the forests back on my planet, so green and full of life.

 _Why would the Galra want to destroy such a magnificent planet._

"Why doesn't anyone ever send distress signals from a cool place?" Pidge whined.

"Aww Pidge don't burst my bubble. I love the forest it so green and lively, I could sit and listen to it the whole day." I said dreamily.

"It's not that. I just hate the outdoors. Nothing but sunburn and poison oak." She complained.

"What, you had a bad experience with plants? Care to share?" I said with a smirk.

"I like it our here. It's quiet." Keith said.

Suddenly White growled, I saw arrows coming our way.

"What was that?" Hunk asked scared.

"Uh...are we being attacked?" Keith asked.

"I don't know but something's pulling my lion down to the surface." Shiro said.

I tried to move my handles, but it seemed that I had lost control of my lion.

"Yeah, something's pulling Blue down too." Lance said.

"Be prepare for anything." I warned.

Our lions descended on to the forest floor and a group of people surrounded us with weapons pointed at us.

"Are those wooden mech suits?" Hunk asked.

"Are you kidding me? We got taken down by a bunch of tree people?" Lance whined.

"We come in peace." Shiro told them using his speaker.

Pidge opened her lion's head hatch, "We got you're digress signal!" She yelled showing them the spore in the tube.

"Praise Lubos!" One of them said and all of them began to cheer.

We exited our lions and walked towards them, one of the aliens introduced herself as Ryner, it turned out that these were the people we came to help. She lead us into a city built inside the forest. I was in awe at its magnificent structure and how they had managed to use nature to build it.

"When the Galra attacked, only a few of us escaped the cities. We were forced to flee into the forest." She explained, we walked up to a ledge up in the trees.

"How long have you been living here?" Shiro asked.

"Many decafeebs, but as you can see our people are resilient, we never stopped evolving. Instead we adapted our skills to the environment." She continued.

We continued to follow her and stopped to watch as one of the Olkari formed a dragonfly from just mare wood.

"It's amazing the connection your people have established with nature." I said amazed.

"Coran was right, you really are the most incredible engineers in the universe! To be able to switch from working with precision machinery to a bunch of sticks!" Pidge exclaimed fanning over them just like me.

"Nature's designs are superior to any that we could devise." Ryner said with a smile.

"I'll say." I said not removing my eyes from the flying dragonfly.

"No offense, but I'll take my computer over a tree any day." Pidge said.

"You two can talk science later. Let's form Voltron and get rid of those Galra invaders." Shiro said breaking my daze.

"It's not that simple I'm afraid. The Galra have our leader, Lubos." Ryner said and the others mentioned his name with sadness. "If you attack, who knows what they will do to him."

"Then we'll just have to rescue him." Shiro answered.

Ryner continued to lead us more into the forest city.

"Um Ryner, where are we?" Keith asked.

"This is the armory."

I turned to look around and saw a Olkari forming a laser gun out of a simple flower. I had never been so awed in my life, I wonder if I could do such things with my powers, after all I still had much to learn. Then another touched one of the trees and a giant brown ball fell from it, it uncurled to display one of the wooden mech suits that we seen earlier. Everyone looked at what just happened in amazement.

"uh, can I...get one of those?" Keith said dumbstruck.

"Of course, you can each have one." Ryner said and went toward a flower that opened to reveal some type of head crowns.

"Now, the key to operating it is to understand that the nano cellulose responds to electrical impulse from the neutral pathways connected through this." Ryner explained and giving us each one except for me, she stopped in front of me. "I can sense that you don't need one. You have a deep connection to nature as well." She said with a smile.

"I do, I use to spend hours in the forest just playing and climbing trees."

"I never got your name." she said.

"Oh. My name is Taylin Fireheart." I told her, a flash of recognition reflected on her eyes but it quickly vanished, I thought nothing of it.

"Come" she waved at me and walked towards the others that where now close to the trees, they had placed their headband on their heads except for Hunk for some weird reason he licked his.

"Hmm makes my tongue itchy."

"ummm Hunk, that's not food." I said as he was going for another lick.

"This is your interface?" Pidge asked and put hers on again.

"Of course, all commands need to come as binary coded messages." Ryner said, Pidge ran over to a tree.

"So, like this?" Pidge touched the tree and closed her eyes, suddenly one of the wooden mech suits fell to the ground.

"Yes! Excellent!" Ryner praised.

I walked to a nearby tree and place my hand on it, I closed my eyes and connected to it. I felt how my energy inter-winded with the tree's life force and heard something hit the ground. I opened my eyes and saw I had created a dragon out of wood. Its eyes glowed green and its body was brown, the color of the tree. I extend my hand to touch it and it put its snout in my hand rubbing it.

"That is amazing!" Ryner exclaimed. "You truly are the Queen of the Drakie."

I turned to look at her.

"You heard about me?"

"Of course, your people possess strong connections to the elements, and you can control all." She said with a smile.

"I think mine is just a tree." Lance muttered and looked behind him.

The tree dragon suddenly growled and went to chase after the firefly we saw earlier, I watched it go with fascination. If I could create Drakie out of elements, then my race was not so doomed after all.

"You both have a deep connection with nature." Ryner said to Me and Pidge.

"Not really, my allergies and pale skin don't exactly mix well with outdoor living." Pidge remarked as she sat inside the suit she had summoned.

"Pidge is our resident tech expert." Shiro said.

"That would explain it, like the Olkari you understand that as the deepest level, trees, metals, you, and me, we're all made up of the same cosmic dust. All arranged by the laws of mathematics." Ryner said.

"Does this mean I should start gardening?' Pidge asked with a frown.

"It means you're going to need to give your friends a ride."

We all piled into two mech suits, I hung on to Shiro's arm so I wouldn't fall over, this things moved too fast. Ryner lead us to the edge of the forest and soon we were overlooking an amazing metal city.

"Their headquarters are impenetrable from the ground, but there is one-way in. A small opening in the roof. It goes all the way down to an open courtyard." Ryner explained.

"That's quite a drop." Keith said.

"Yes, but there you will have total access to the building. The hard part will be getting onto the roof undetected."

"That' won't be a problem." Shiro said.

"Hey, is that part of the building?" Hunk asked.

There was a massive giant structure in a form of a cube in front of the building the Galra were keeping their king.

"My Lubos! It can't be!" Ryner gasped.

"Hey, that looks like the cube Coran gave me." Pidge said and pulled it out to show us through the screen.

"I haven't see one of these in many decafeebs. We used to play with them as children but this, only King Lubos could design one that big." Ryner said.

"Whatever that thing is, it can't be good. We must rescue your king as soon as possible." I said.

"They must have forced King Lubos to reveal his designs and reconstruct it as a weapon. From the looks of it, I'd say it's almost complete." Ryner said.

"Ok, we need to act fast. Everyone get back to the base, I have a plan." Shiro ordered.

We headed back to the lions and boarded the Green Lion since it was the only one that had stealth capabilities. Pidge piloted the Green Lion to the drop zone. She opened the hatch and we jumped down to the courtyard below. Just before hitting the ground we activated our jet backs to slow our decent. We sneaked around the hallway, I summoned by Bayard into a sword ready for a fight at any moment.

"Taylin, are you able to locate the King?" Shiro asked.

"Yes, just give me a moment." I closed my eyes and searched with my mind, I found quite a few Galra. Reaching further, I found a mind that was different from the others. "Found him, right this way." I said and began to move forward.

We reached a closed the door where the sound of crying was heard from the inside. Shiro opened the door and quietly walked in. There was King Lubos with a hankie in his hand watching some sort of love story on a big screen. We looked at each other confused, we thought he might had been getting tortured.

"Betrayal! She loves you!" The King exclaimed and wiped his face with his hankie.

"Sounds like the story of Tay and Shiro." Lance smirked, I glared at him making him shut up.

"King Lubos?" Shiro asked and we walked towards him, the King turned to look at us.

"Uh yes? Who are you? Are you the jesters I requested?"

If only looks could kill, I'm sure he be dead now.

"Um, we're here to like rescue you." Lance said unsure and lowered his gun.

Lubos looked confused and pressed a button on his chair causing the alarms to go off. The wall in front of us slid aside and in walked a few Galra pointing their guns at us.

"You could have said no thanks." Hunk whined and pointed his gun at them.

"Looks like someone came to rescue you Lubos." A Galra said, who I summed was the commander.

"You turned your back on your own people to save your own skin." Shiro said glaring at him.

"I'm doing this for my people! They wanted to fight the Galra but they're too powerful. The Galra could destroy us." Lubos said scared.

"So, you helped them enslave your people, so they could build a mega weapon?" Lance shot back.

"You don't deserve to carry the tittle of King. It's a million times better to fight for once people than to cower behind them." I said in anger.

"Don't make me the bad guy! He forced me to do it!" Lubos exclaimed and pointed at the commander.

"Did he force feed you too?" Lance stated.

"You're no king." Keith said and walked toward him.

Lubos tried to get away but Keith cached him when the prisoner pushed him and placed his sword to his neck.

"Ok, we're walking outta here. Anyone tries to stop us, and Lubos gets it!" Keith shouted at the Galra.

"Whoa! K-Keith" Shiro said surprised at his action.

"That came out of nowhere." Lance said also shocked.

"La-Sai, what are you doing?" Lubos said to the other Olkari in the room, he had his hands cuffed.

"You betrayed our people, I can't live this lie anymore." He said.

"You don't want to hurt your genius engineer, right?" Keith tested the Galra.

"Oh, be my guest. His work is done, the cube is complete." The commander said evilly.

"What! But-But I thought we had a deal!" Lubos said scared.

"Guards! Put them all out of their misery." The commander ordered and just as the Galra were about to shoot there was an explosion behind us.

"Escape ride is here." Pidge said brining the Green Lion closer.

We jump through the hole onto the Green Lion's back and Pidge got us out of there as the Galra began to fire on us.

"The cube's operational! We have to get back to the lions and form Voltron." Shiro said, Pidge boosted us back to the forest.

When we arrived, Keith pushed Lubos in front of his people and he fell to the ground.

"What's going on?" Ryner asked and looked down at her king.

"While your countrymen starved, King Lubos was well taken care of by the Galra. He willingly helped them build the cube, willingly helped enslave his own people." Shiro said and the faces of the Olkari looked shocked. "I know you're devastated, but it's time to be strong and use your Olkari spirit to fight back and take back your planet!" Shiro said strongly.

"Lubos, how could you?" Ryder glared at him with disappointment.

Lubos tried to respond but he was too afraid to answer, so he stuttered instead.

"Enough! We must free our people!" Ryder shouted, the Olkari began to cheer.

We ran back to our lions and formed Voltron, I piloted us to where the giant cube was located.

The cube began to fire on us and Pidge summoned the shield. Keith shot a laser at the cube, but it seemed unharmed, suddenly the cube fired at us with almost the same intensity.

"Did it just absorb our laser?!" Pidge exclaimed.

"We need to increase fire power, Hunk use your blaster!" Shiro ordered.

"Shiro I don't think-" but I was cut off as Hunk fired the cannon only to get shot back.

Pidge pulled up the shield just in time, the force of the blast pushed us back.

"It's giving back whatever we fire at it! Like Coran's echo cube!" Shiro said.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you guys! It's learning, making versions of our weapons to use against us." Pidge explained.

I tried to move us out of the way, but we got hit in the process.

"How about we try hitting it instead." I suggested.

"Yeah, maybe we can cut through the surface and hack the center of its thinking point, place?" Lance said unsure.

"It's worth a shot!" Keith said and formed the sword.

I moved us out of the way before it hit us again and quickly brought us back, Voltron sliced the cube in half. It seemed to be powering off when the cubs began to float up again.

"Re-engage!" Shiro ordered.

And we sliced it again creating four small cubes, but they soon recovered and began to fire at us from all sides.

"We can't fight them like this! We need to split up, back into lions!" Shiro ordered and we disbanded.

I moved White toward one of the cubes and gave her power, she fired a twister from her jaws. It seemed to displace the cub for a moment but then it shot back the same twister with more intensity. I was unable to move out of the way and it hit us head on, I concentrated and calmed the winds before it blew us out of the sky.

"Let's see if I can freeze these guys!" Lance said and shot an ice ray at one of the cubes, but it reflected it, freezing Blue's head in the process.

"So cold! So cold!" Lance said shivering.

Keith came to his aid and melted the ice with Red's fire power.

"How do we take these things down?! They can replicate our powers!" I yelled dodging an incoming attack.

"There doesn't seem to be away to stop them, but we can't let his weapon get into Zarkon's hands." Shiro answered.

Suddenly Pidge screamed, we saw the Green Lion fall toward the ground.

"Pidge!" Shiro yelled but no answer came back.

I put my lion in a nose dive but out of nowhere a cube got in my way and I crashed into it.

"Arrrg" I growled and pulled up. "Pidge do you copy?" I asked.

Everyone was getting hit and there seem to be no way to stop the cubes. One of the cubes was after me and trying to shoot my rear when another shot was fired right in front of me. I noticed too late, but the impact never came, when I opened my eyes I saw that the Black Lion had taken the hit for me.

"Shiro?! Are you alright?!" I yelled.

"Yeah...I'm fine." He responded grunting.

"Hang on guys!" Pidge's voice came over the comm.

"Pidge!" We all said in unison.

The Green Lion zoomed past us and flew towards the cubes.

"Whoa, what happened?! You're booking!" Hunk exclaimed.

She avoided the lasers with ease and not one hit its target.

"I'm not sure, but I feel more connected with my lion than ever before. I know what I have to do!" On cue, a cannon formed on Green's back and fired. The cube seemed to take in the shot like before but then roots began to emanate from its inside rendering it un-operational.

"Whoa! How'd you do that?!" Lance exclaimed.

"Yeah that's right! Circle up everybody! Get some of this!" Pidge yelled in excitement.

I was overjoyed to hear her, to know that her bond with the Green Lion had, in a way, taken root. Pidge shot at the other cubes and they fell from the sky finally hitting the forest floor.

"Ha, vines, now that's certainly a way I never thought a giant cube of death would go down." Hunk said with a laugh.

"The Green Lion is just staying true to its nature." I said smiling.

Thanks for reading!

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	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

 **Awakened**

Seeing the cubes destroyed by Pidge and the Green Lion brought confidence to the Olkari and they drove the Galra from their main cities. We stood on top of one of the many buildings that over looked the forest, our lions to our backs.

"I want to thank you all. You've helped to get our home back and for that, we will never be able to repay you." Ryner said with a smile.

"Just promise me that when it's time to take the fight to Zarkon, we can count on the Olkari for help." Shiro said and Ryner extended her hand and they shook on it.

"Now and forever." Ryner said and she turned to Pidge.

"And you. The spirit of the Olkari resides in you. The bond between you and your lion has grown stronger than ever." She said and place a hand on her shoulder.

"Without you, I would have never been able to unlock my lion's true power." Pidge smiled up at her.

Ryner let go of her shoulder and turned to look at me.

"In other matters, you have proven to be the true Queen of the Drakie." She said standing in front of me. "Your people left something here on our planet for safe keeping and it can only be unlocked by someone of the Fireheart blood line." She said, I looked at her in shock.

"My people were here! When!?"

"This is not recent; your people came to us ten-thousand years ago and asked our ancestors to store away something very valuable. This secret has been passed on for generations, come I must show you, it's in the forest." Ryner waved at me to follow.

"Can we come?" Pidge asked.

"Yes! of course. Come on!' I said to them exited.

 _What could my people have possibly given to the Olkari that is so valuable._ I pondered.

I had this weird feeling in my stomach, I felt happy hearing about my fellow Drakie after such a long time. We got on the tree mechs again and we flew through the forest. We stopped when the vegetation was too dense and continued on foot. Shiro gave me a smile and squeezed my hand.

We walked for several miles until we came close to some giant boulders, the only way to get passed them was to climb over them.

"Are we suppose to go up?" I asked Ryner.

"No, look over there." She said pointing.

I noticed something different there and realized they looked like doors, on instinct I walked toward them until I was right in front. There were markings on the doors but not all visible, vines had grown on them over time. With a wave of my hand, the vines obeyed and removed themselves from view. On them were carvings of two dragons taking flight and in-between them an image of a girl with her hands towards the sky. As I looked closely at the orb on top of the girl's head, it looked like a raindrop.

"This is the symbol of the water element." I said touching the surface of the carving.

"How do we open it?" Lance asked.

"Hmmm, if I remember right the way we opened sacred entrances was to use the element imprinted on it, but there must be a stone plate on the ground somewhere. I must stand on it, if I am to open it. " I said looking around the forest floor.

Everyone else begun to search, I removed dirt and leaves from the surface with my foot.

"Found it." Shiro said pointed at the ground.

I walked towards him and kneeled down to remove the dirt from the plate with my hand, the water symbol was imprinted on it. Underneath the symbol read, _aprival mur orthunest ey furnestmest hart._

"What does that say?" Shiro asked.

"It's written in the language of the ancient Drakie, it reads, they with the purest heart, prove your worthiness."

"Now what?" Pidge asked.

"Now I have to manifest the water element. Everyone step back." I told them standing up on the plate looking at the door.

I turned to look at the others who took position just a little further way by a tree.

"Whatever happens please do not interrupt, I don't want any of you to be harmed." I said and turned my attention to the door.

I closed my eyes to concentrate and manifested a blue orb of water. I began to move my hand in a circular motion making the orb shine bright blue and it split into four. I opened my eyes to look at the doors and send the orbs flying toward them, suddenly the carvings began to glow blue. I heard the others gasp as a strong wind passed by lifting up the leaves and scattering them around, the doors began to move slowly. They made a scraping sounds as they opened outward and inside was pitch black. I felt an energy coming from the inside; something moved in the darkness.

"Ahh, what's that?" Hunk asked scared.

Another gust of wind came, but this time it emanated from the inside of the cavern. My mind began to flood with memories when I was just a little girl with my dragon by my side, when we use to play out in the fields. They quickly changed, and I was older, but they were all memories of us together. Memories rushed through my mind like the wind flipping the pages of a book, I gasped when they stopped.

"Taylin are you alright?" Shiro asked concern, but I did not answer.

My feet froze in place and my lips said no words, it was like an imaginary force was keeping me there.

"Wait." Pidge said.

I felt someone place a hand on my shoulder.

Then I heard a familiar voice in my head.

 _"Taylin..."._

"Your...your here...after all this time..." Words failed me and tears threatened to spill out.

"Who are you talking to?" Shiro asked squeezing my shoulder a bit.

The ground began to shake, and slowly dark blue scales began to appear, and his head came into view. I was still frozen in place as he exited the cavern and rose up to his full height. He had grown since the last time we saw each other, ten-thousand years ago. He was now the size of a building and when he came into the light his scales casted rainbows of different hues, his horns had extended even more from his head, his talons sharper than any knife, ready to tear its pray. He looked magnificent.

He lowered his head to my level and met my gaze looking at me from head to toe memorizing every part of me. I extended my right hand and placed it on his snout, he hummed in approval. Shiro had dropped his hand and taken a few steps back.

"Storm, I missed you so much." I ran up to him and hugged his neck and finally let the tears fall. They were not tears of sadness but of joy, the hole I once felt had been filled with his very presence. A warmth enveloped me, and our connection was reestablished. His feelings once again became a part of me like the first time we met.

 _"Taylin, I have miss you too."_ He said, I could feel his happiness.

 _"I have so many questions! Why are you on this planet?"_ I asked him pulling away to look at him in the eye.

 _"Your father brought me here and put me under a deep sleep. He told me that one day you would come to get me and to take care of you...how long has it been?"_ He asked.

 _"It has been ten-thousand years."_

 _"Ten-thousand years! But you look not a day older since I saw you."_ He exclaimed and analyzed me with his big blue eyes.

 _"I know its disconcerting, but father put me in a stasis pod that kept me asleep for that period of time. Allura and Coran were place in one as well."_ I explained.

Storm turned to look around and his eyes landed on the other Paladins that looked at him wide eyed, Ryder just looked happy to see our reunion.

"Oh yes, this are the new Paladins and I form a part of Voltron as well, as the White Paladin." I said a loud this time so that everyone could hear.

 _"You are a Paladin now!... Little one, you come along way."_ His deep voice laced with pride.

"Guys, I would like you to meet Storm. He is my bonded Drako." I said pointing at him.

 _"It is very nice to meet you all."_ He said into their minds.

"Wow! He can talk." Lance exclaimed holding his head.

 _"Of course, I can talk. What did you think I was, a mindless lizard?"_ Storm said irritated, a low growl emanated from his chest.

"Easy, they never met someone like you." I told him calming him down.

Hunk seemed scared at his tone and hid behind Shiro.

"Anyways, sorry about that, he is quite new at this and can be short tempered at times." I apologized for him.

"This is Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Keith, and my mate Shiro." I said pointing at them.

"Hi" they all said nervously.

 _"You have a mate!?"_ He exclaimed analyzing Shiro with a glare, clawing the ground with his right claw.

 _"Yes, I do, now be nice."_ I told him and slightly hit him with my elbow.

Storm moved towards Shiro until he towered over him, Shiro looked up at him with a nervous expression.

 _"It is nice to meet my rider's chosen one. I only ask you to please care for her as she seems to care for you. I can sense the feeling and connection between you both."_ Storm told him.

"It is very nice to finally meet you, Taylin told me much about you. And don't worry I'll take good care of her." Shiro said and he seemed to be calmer.

"I never thought I would see a real live dragon, can he breathe fire?" Pidge asked looking up at Storm.

"Storm is a water Drako, meaning he can manipulate the water element but can also breath fire if he pleases." I answered.

"Just a quick question" Hunk said raising his hand, "How are we going to fit him in the castle?"

 _"I have the ability to adjust my size, that will not be a problem."_ Storm answered.

"Oh" Hunk lowered his hand slowly.

Shiro looked at me and gave me a smile which I returned and walked to him to take his hand.

"We should begin are journey back to your lions." Ryder said.

Just then, we heard a big explosion and a Galra ship emerged from the clouds.

"I knew they would not give up that easily!" I exclaimed.

"We need to get back to our lions!" Shiro said pulling at my hand.

"No! The Olkari need help now. You head back as quickly as possible, we will try to take them down on our own." I told him.

"That's too dangerous." Shiro said with fear in his eyes.

"I will be fine, I won't be fighting alone." I touched his face slightly.

"You ready for this Storm!" I said looking up at him.

 _"I'm ready to tear that ship apart!"_ He growled and roared.

I ran to him and he lowered himself to the ground so that I could climb up his back. I sat down between his shoulder blades and Storm used his powers to hold me in place. I commanded the trees around us to move and they did, giving Storm the opportunity to spread out his massive wings. He jumped up in the air and flapped down, shooting us up into the sky.

 _"The Galra stand no chance at our might."_ He said.

 _"We need to take down the torrents on top of the ship, fly on top of them."_ I ordered.

I summoned by Bayard into a sword and Storm brought us closer to our objective. He flipped around until we were flying upside down, the power that was holding me in place fell away causing me to fall off his back. I flipped around and landed on my feet and began to block incoming shots with my shield. I looked towards the sky, Storm was fighting off Galra fighters trying to shoot him, but he was faster. He grabbed one in between his jaws and swung it at another creating an explosion. I ran towards the first torrent and sliced through it, using the lighting element I send out a shockwave that powered the rest off. I kept running toward the edge of the ship and jumped off. I felt weightless falling from so high up, Storm appeared, and I landed on his back.

 _"The torrents are taken care of, now we have to deal with that ion cannon or the Olkari won't stand a chance."_ I said.

 _"On it!"_

Storm gave out a roar and from his jaws shot out a tunnel of water at high pressure toward the ion cannon. I spread out my hands and created a sphere that covered us as shield while Storm concentrated on destroying it. After a few more tick the ion cannon finally gave out and exploded under the pressure. Storm flew toward the side of the ship and dug his nails creating a big scratch on the surface and quickly moved away. Multiple explosions came from inside the cruiser, I created a giant orb of electricity and fired it at them. The impact lit up the sky and the ship began to fall towards the forest. Storm flew towards it at full speed and pushed against it moving its course to an empty field, finally crashing and splitting in two.

Storm let out a roar of victory and breathed fire into the air.

"We did it!" I exclaimed.

 _"Just like old times."_ Storm replied content.

 _"Hold on!"_ He said and dove towards the ground, right before we seemed we were going to crash, he spread out his wings and landed safely near the lions, I looked down at the others and waved at them. From Storm's back, the lions looked small not even the Black Lion rivaled his height. Storm brought his tail towards me and wrapped it around my waist carrying me down to the ground.

"Wow! That was amazing!" Lance said.

"Were battles always like this for you guys?" Keith asked interested.

"Air combat on a Drako's back is more complicated than it looks, it requires lots of skill and balance." I said with a grin.

"You two took down a Galra command ship all on your own." Shiro said amazed and placed a hand on the small of my back.

"Yeah! does Galra fighters did not stand a chance!" Pidge said jumping up like a little kid.

"Did you see how Storm took those fighters down, that's was...that was epic." Hunk praised, Storm gave a growl of approval, he always did love praise.

Storm's scales began to glow a light blue color as he shrunk in size until his head was at my eye level. We waved goodbye at the Olkari and walked into my lion who had lowered her head to the ground.

 _"I might start getting a little jealous of the lion."_ Storm joked when I sat down on my seat.

 _"You don't need to be jealous, you will always be a part of me."_ I said smiling, Storm snorted.

"Ok guys, time to head back to the castle." Shiro said.

We took off and headed towards the ship that waited for us in orbit, as we came closer, Allura opened the hangars.

"Allura, please come to my hangar. I would like to show you something." I said over the comm.

"Will do." She answered.

I landed White in our hangar and she lowered her head for us to exit. The doors opened and Allura walked in.

"What did you want to show me?" She asked making her way to me.

"The Olkari had kept something, well rather someone safe for me through all these years." I said; Storm walked out from behind one of White's front paws.

Allura covered her mouth with both her hands in surprise.

"Storm! I can't believe it, you're really here!" She exclaimed.

 _"It is very nice to see you Princess Allura."_ He said bowing his head.

"I am so glad you too found each other, but how is it that you ended up on this planet?" She asked.

 _"King Glerd placed me in a deep sleep and tucked me away, out of the reach of Zarkon. He knew that if they got ahold of me, they would have power over Taylin."_ He answered.

"Your father always thought of everything." She said smiling and placed a hand of my shoulder.

"Yup, that's him, always thinking of my future even when he's gone." I finished sadly looking down at the floor.

Storm sensed this and comforted me by sending a feeling of warmth, I smiled in gratitude.

"We should go meet the others on the bridge." I said and began to walk out of the hangar with Storm and Allura close behind.

 _"So many memories here..."_ Storm trailed off looking at his surroundings.

 _"Indeed."_

The control room doors opened, everyone was already there talking to each other.

"Storm it's good to see you up and about." Coran greeted him.

Storm nodded his head in greeting.

"I still can't believe that dragons aren't myths." Pidge said looking at Storm.

"Well here we are as living proof that we exist." I said pointing at us.

Shiro placed a hand on her shoulder "You did a great job Pidge."

I moved to stand next to her and smiled down.

"We couldn't have done it without you, you saved our lives." I told her.

"You know it's weird. I've always been a tech junky, that's how I connected with the world. But for the first time, I felt connected to everything. I guess it's like Ryner said, we're all made up of the same cosmic dust." Pidge said.

"So, that means we're all related. This ship, those stars, the Olkari...even the Galra." Keith said in deep thought.

Everyone turned to look at him with blank expressions and busted out laughing.

"Uh oh, I think Keith just blew his own mind." Hunk teased, and we continued to laugh, Keith just crossed his arms in annoyance.

"Well, that was a productive trip. Look at all these cubes they gave me." Coran said pulling out a cube and threw it in the air. The cube split into smaller cubes forming a circle above us.

"Coran, Coran, the gorgeous man." He sang, and the cubes copied him.

"Ha, sounds pretty good." He sighed loving the sound of his voice.

Hunk squished his checks together and made a farting sound, the cubes copied him creating a very loud farting noise. We began to laugh, Shiro just looked annoyed at Hunk's childish act. Suddenly the castle shook, and the alarms went off.

"What's that?!" Coran asked.

We turned around and gasped as right before us was Zarkon's command ship with an entire fleet of Galra cruisers.

"Oh no." Coran said.

The cubes confirmed his fear.

Thanks for reading!

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	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

 **Eye of the Storm**

We stood frozen looking at Zarkon's entire fleet before us too shocked to even express are worries.

"Zarkon! How did he find us?!" Allura exclaimed breaking the silence.

"His commander must have radioed him from Olkarion." Keith said.

"We need to wormhole now. Everyone to your stations, we need to put some distance between us and Zarkon." Shiro ordered, we nodded heading to our seats.

"This could be the fight of our lives." Shiro stated sitting down.

"That's sure is a lot of fighters…" Hunk said scared.

"Allura, can you evade these fighters? We can't have them following us through the wormhole." Shiro asked while looking at the fleet.

"I can try." Allura responded and she ignited the castle's boosters moving us away but the Galra ships that followed our every move.

"Keith, Lance, Taylin. Let's lay down some covering fire." Shiro ordered; I activated my defense drone on my screen. Storm came to sit by my chair looking at the radar. I grabbed the holographic handles and move my drone into position shooting down three Galra fighters.

"Lance! Incoming, 12 o'clock!" Pidge called out.

"Got it!" Lance answered and saw his drone move to that location, but Keith's drone pushed him out of the way and shot down the fighter.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, gotta be quick." Keith muttered, Lance drove his drone bumping it on Keith's.

"How's that for quick?" Lance shot back.

"You…" Keith growled and both drones began to hit each other.

"That's enough you two!" I scolded them, and they stopped.

 _"There is an incoming fighter to you left."_ Storm commented.

I moved out of the way before it could shoot me down and moved behind it, firing at its boosters.

"Thanks Storm."

"Come on you guys, stay in your zones." Shiro said.

"Yeah, Keith!" Lance said annoyed.

"Keep calling out those fighters Pidge. Hunk, how are defenses holding?" Shiro asked.

"I-I don't know 10%, 15% maybe. Everything's a blur, I've been up too long. I have tired eyes." Hunk whined.

"I know we just came out from an intense battle but we gotta stay focused, just until we jump." Shiro encouraged.

"And when is that?!" Keith yelled out when the castle began to take heavy fire.

"There's still too close, we need to gain more speed." Coran explained.

I felt how someone began transfer energy to me and slightly looked at Storm confused.

 _"What are you doing?"_

 _"You need the energy more than me, there is not much I can do."_ He answered.

"I got an idea, Hold on!" Allura exclaimed breaking our thoughts.

She moved the castle and accelerated pushing us back in our seats.

"Allura, what are you doing?!" Pidge exclaimed as we saw the moon coming up fast.

"I'm going to use this moon's gravity to gain speed and put some distance between us and Zarkon." Allura explained, she moved the castle to go around the moon. The force was so strong that I had to hold on to my seat, suddenly Storm disappeared from my peripheral vision.

"Storm! You ok?!" I grunted.

 _"Doing great."_ He said sarcastically.

We came around the moon and the force subdued allowing me to breath normal once more.

"We're clear to wormhole!" Coran yelled.

Allura closed her eyes and she opened a wormhole moving the castle inside, leaving Zarkon and his fleet behind. The wormhole closed behind us, but the alarms still blared in our ears.

"We got away from Zarkon but how come we're still on alert?" Lance asked.

"Coran, what's going on?" Shiro asked.

I turned to look behind me and Storm was holding on to the upper platform with his talons, Allura looked exhausted, gripping the controls for support.

"Oh no! Teludav malfunction! We're about to exit this wormhole a lot sooner than we'd planned!" Coran exclaimed, and the castle exited the tunnel.

"Whoa, where are we? Looks like some ice berg graveyard." Lance observed looking at the white and blue rocks in front of us.

"Coran, what's the status?" Allura asked weakly.

"Checking that now." Coran said and began to type on his control panel.

"We didn't get to our exit point but we're galaxies away from Zarkon's fleet." He explained. I stood up from my seat to look behind me, Allura did not look too well.

Her knees began to shake finally giving out.

"Allura!" I exclaimed in panic.

Storm moved toward her stopping her before she hit the ground. She leaned on his neck and I quickly moved toward them to help her sit on the stairs. I kept and arm around her shoulders to stabilize her and sat down next to her.

"Oh no, you look exhausted." Coran said worried, "You must rest. You've been exerting way too much energy. I'll go check on the main turbine and figure out what's going- ahhh!" A load thump made me look up, Coran was plastered on the wall.

"Whoa! You alright?!" Lanced asked.

Coran unstuck himself from the wall and I noticed that his whole body looked wet.

"Oh, I'm fine. I'll tell you what, I probably hit a slippery spot there. S-someone! Please, wipe that up there!" Coran stated and pointed at a big puddle that had formed on the floor.

"You're sweating. You might have the case of the slipperies." Allura said as she looked at him with a slight smile.

"What?! No! That's an old person's virus and I'm not old, I young." Coran said as a large bubble of sweat began to form on his hand, he noticed it and quickly hid it behind his back, "Youngish…"

"What are the slippers?" Lance asked.

I stood up after I gave Allura some of my energy.

"It's a common Altean virus that occurs...later in life." Allura explained picking her words carefully.

Coran moved away from the big puddle, but wherever he stood another one would form quickly.

"It's not harmful, usually only lasts for a couple of days but it causes one's body to secrete extremely slick fluid." She added.

Just when she finished explaining, we all backed away disgusted.

"Yes, it is gross. So, it's a good thing I don't have it." Coran tried to play it cool.

"Coran, its nothing to be embarrassed about." Allura assured him.

Pidge was so disgusted she threw up on the side of the platform.

"I'm not embarrassed because I don't have it!" Coran retaliated.

He opened his arms and sweat just began to drip from them, I cringed at the sight glad that I was not Altean.

"And now I'm actually going to leave because I have to fix the main turbine." He said and began to walk towards the exit, but his boots made a squeaky nose, he just walked in place. A large puddle had form and he suddenly slipped and fell on his back, the doors opened, and he slipped down the hallway. We looked at him dumbfounded as his screaming died down further down the hall.

"Ok, since Zarkon has no idea where we are, this is the perfect time to focus on our next step." Shiro finally spoke up causing Hunk and Lance to whine. "Maybe we can find the secret group, the Blade of Marmora. Pidge, where are those coordinates?"

We turned to look at Pidge who was sitting on her seat trying very hard not to fall asleep.

"Oh wait, hang on." Pidge snapped out of her trance and began to type on her panel. "I'm so tired, my brain's not working." She complained.

"Yeah, neither is mine." Lance groaned dropping his shoulders.

I looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Hello all, I've checked the engines." Coran popped up on the screen trying not to slip.

"That was fast." Pidge said.

"Well I just sli-!" He fell and when he was able to get up again, he had a red bump on his head. "I mean hurried down. Anyways the good news is that the ship took minimal damage from the Galra fighters. The bad news is the teladuv or wormhole as you earthlings call it, is in bad shape. Several scaltrite lens stones of the magnifying beam generator are cracked." He explained. "As you know, the magnifying beam generator uses the crystal to convert Altean energy into usable fuel that supplies the power needed to wormhole. Well anyways, I need to remove the cracked lenses and readjust their trajectory temporarily until we can replace them. I'll also need to divert power to make up for the lost energy."

"How long until you can adjust them?" I asked.

"It's probably going to take us at least a quintant." He answered.

"Alright. We'll hide the ship and get some rest while Coran comes up with the work around. Tomorrow we'll be sharper and refocused." Shiro said.

Everyone began to leave to rest, I was about to leave but noticed Shiro head back to his seat.

"Aren't you coming?" I asked.

"I'm just going to stay here for a couple more minutes." He told me turning around.

"Don't over work yourself." I said with a smile and headed out the door with Storm right behind me.

 _"He seems troubled."_ Storm commented.

 _"As the leader of Voltron, he has a lot on his shoulders. I guess he is just worried about Zarkon finding us again."_ I said tiredly.

 _"Well then, he is a good leader… Just like you. Always looking out for others."_ He said, I smiled at him. _"I'll head to my previous sleeping accommodations, I'm sure they are still here."_

 _"I believe they are. Nothing much has changed in the castle."_

 _"Sleep well my queen."_ He said and continued walking down the hall.

I looked at him go and still could not believe that I had gotten him back. I stared at him for way too long until I snapped myself out of it.

"Yeah, my brain is not working ether."

I walked into my room and changed into my comfortable shirt and sleeping shorts. I climbed into bed and I let out a sigh when my head touched the pillow. It was not long before I fell into deep slumber.

I woke up when I rolled to the left side of the bed and there was nothing to stop me. I opened my eyes and noticed that this side was still cold.

 _Shiro did not come to sleep._

I thought dropping my face against the pillow. I finally got the will to stand up and walked barefoot to Shiro's room. I opened to door and saw that his bed had not been slept on, I huffed and made my way to the control room. I walked down the hall and rubbed my face trying to get rid of my sleepiness. Walking in, I saw Shiro sitting in his seat looking at a map, he turned to look at me when he heard the doors close.

"What are you doing up?" He asked.

"I was asleep, but I noticed you never came to rest." I said sleepily and yawned.

I made my way towards him and stopped next to his seat.

"I could not rest knowing that Zarkon is still out there, hunting us." He said looking up at me.

"But you still need to rest in order to function." I stated and touched his shoulder.

I waved my hand over his panel making it disappear and sat on his lap brining my feet up. I rested my head on his shoulder and placed my left hand on his chest. He was a little surprised at my action, but he wrapped his left arm around my body and placed his other hand on my legs.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked with a chuckle.

"I'm making you rest." I said with my eyes closed.

He leaned back on his seat and rubbed his hand up and down my legs. Shiro placed a kiss on my forehead and leaned his head on mine.

"I know this is going to sound weird, but you always smell like flowers to me." His voice vibrated through his chest.

I chuckled "It's not weird. It part of our bonding, that is how dragons recognize their mates. You can only sense it, no one else can."

"Oh, but I'm not dragon."

"Believe it or not, Drakie used to pick mates from other races, not just our own. As the next in line to the throne, I was supposed to pick a mate from one of the clans. My father had his eye on the son of the leader of the metal element clan. I only met him once before I dedicated my time to the war effort as my father's right hand."

"Out of everyone in the universe, you picked me." He said just like before and kissed the top of my head.

"Like I said, fate." I repeated.

"What was he like? I mean, the guy your father had chosen?"

"Do I sense a hint of jealousy?" I asked chuckling.

"No... maybe. Just wanted to know."

"His name was Tamer, he was one of the greatest warriors of his clan and good looking too." This caused a low growl from Shiro, I patted his chest.

"Relax" I laughed "I said he was good looking, but I was never attracted to him. We met once when my father was rounding up warriors for the war. Tamer joined, but I never got to see him again since I commanded The Shadow Group."

"What was the Shadow Group?"

"It was a group of five warriors, including myself, that exceeded in combat and element skills. We became known as the Elite Guard, we were often sent in infiltration missions or to lead battalions into combat in air or on land."

"Did you get captured in one of those missions?" he asked patting my leg.

"Yes, but let not talk about that, I honestly don't want to remember it. Let's just rest for the time being."

I cuddle more into his embrace, everything was perfect and peaceful until the alarms went off startling us.

"That is not possible!" I exclaimed dumfounded as Galra ships began to fire at us.

Allura came in running.

"We're several galaxies away. How did they find us so soon?" She gasped.

I quickly got off Shiro's lap and ran to my seat.

"Coran! Are you there?!" Allura called out.

"I'm here! Woah, over here!" Coran exclaimed as he had trouble staying in the same place.

"Zarkon is back! What's our status?"

"Worm holing will be a problem; the lenses haven't been readjusted. I don't know whether the teludav will generate enough power."

"Do everything you can!" Allura told him.

Everyone else came rushing in and took a seat in their places. Keith and Lance came in without shirts and towels around their shoulders.

"He found us again?! How is that possible?!" It that possible?! That doesn't seem possible!" Lance stated in panic.

The doors of the control room opened, and Storm came running to my side.

 _"Zarkon is back? How?!"_ He asked.

 _"I don't know!"_

"Right now, we have to figure out a way to get out of here." Allura said.

"Or, we can stay and fight. Now's our chance, form Voltron, enough running." Keith said.

"It's too dangerous." Allura responded.

"There are just too many ships, we would be overrun quickly. Plus, Zarkon is here which complicates things even more." I added.

"The girls are right. Remember what happened the last time at Zarkon's command center. We wouldn't have escaped if the Blade of Marmora hadn't shut down the shield." Shiro said.

Coran came back on the screen still having trouble with his slipperies.

"The turbine's up. Still working on the worm-ahhh!" Coran suddenly fell and slid on his stomach.

"Uh guys, I think I'm realizing now that I do in fact have the case of the slipperies." Coran cried and we all looked at him blankly. "I'm sorry I yelled at you Pidge, I may need your help after all." He apologized.

"I'm coming down!" Pidge said and made her way towards the exit.

Allura moved the castle from behind the ice asteroids and began to move us away from the incoming fleet. Shiro, Keith, Lance, and I activated our defense drones and began to fire back at the Galra.

"Lance, there's a fighter advancing on your nine!" Keith called out.

"Thanks for the head up, and you got one going for the lower barrier." Lance replied.

"Good eye!" Keith said and shot down a fighter.

"Shiro incoming on your right!" I warned.

He shot it down before it could shoot.

"Thanks!"

"Ok, your mine!" Lance exclaimed.

I was about to shoot another fighter when my controls suddenly disappeared.

"Huh?! What's going on? I lost control of my defense drone!" Lance said panicking.

"Me too! I just got shot down!" I exclaimed holding my head.

"I got you covered! Uh, I don't got you covered!" Keith said as his controls disappeared as well.

"Oh, there must be a system failure." I said.

"Nope that was us! We're diverting power from non-essential systems to get the wormhole generator working." Pidge said on the screen.

"Shooting bad guys is pretty essential!" Lance shot back standing up.

"We lost secondary controls! Thermal regulators offline! Oh no, there goes the particle barrier!" Hunk said in panic.

"Ok, try it! We should be able to make one very small jump. I hope…" Coran said.

Allura concentrated and a wormhole opened in front of us. The castle quickly entered it and closed before the Galra could follow.

"Oh no! The lenses are breaking down even more! We'll be out of the wormhole even sooner this time." Coran exclaimed, the castle exited the wormhole.

In front of us was a space storm, the winds looked menacing.

We let out a breath of relief and I leaned back on my chair.

"Zarkon keeps finding us. It's like, he knows how to track us down, maybe he planted some kind of tracking device." Shiro said in thought.

"Well is it nothing on the ship. The castle would have detected any type of tracking device." Allura said scanning the ship on her screen.

"Until we figure out exactly how he's doing it, we have to assume that he can show up at any minute. So, stay alert." Shiro said and loud snoring suddenly came from the back, I turned to my left and saw Hunk in deep sleep. A snot bubble began to form on his nostril and when it popped, he jumped into a defensive stance.

"Ohhh! What's going?! What are you guys doing?! What are you looking at?!" Hunk yelled looking around frantically.

"You woke yourself snoring." Keith said.

"My bad…" Hunk apologized and hung his head.

"Coran what's our status?" Shiro asked and a screen of Coran popped up.

He looked to be skating on his sweat in circles and jumps, Pidge was working on the background.

"Actually, there is a bit of good news, I'm finally getting used to these slipperies. My mucus glands are working at an incredible rate." Coran said enjoying himself.

Shiro looked at him with a blankly.

"Any good news about the teladuv?" Shiro explained his previous question.

"I'm afraid not. The last jump overloaded the lens stones, now even more of them are broken. We're going to try some readjustments to try and change the beam trajectory. Until then, worm holing away will be impossible." Coran answered.

"Hey, there's a giant metallic storm up ahead. I think we can hide in the eye of the storm. It should give off enough interference, so we can't be tracked." Pidge suggested.

"It's worth a shot." Shiro said.

"The storm winds are moving too fast for the castle to move through them. I will make a path for us that will allow Allura to move us to the center." I said standing up.

"Alright, moving towards the storm." Allura said.

I closed my eyes and concentrated, but this time I was not alone, Storm merge his powers with mine. I reopened my eyes and I spread out my arms letting go of my energy, together we created a safe path for the castle to move through.

"Brilliant Pidge. We're essentially invisible to any radar, radio wave, universal scans, or any other known technology." Allura praised Pidge.

Just as we felt safe for the time being, the alarms when off again and Zarkon's ship appeared on top of the eye of the storm.

"No" Allura gasped.

"This just keep getting better and better." I said creasing my eyebrows, Storm growled beside me.

"Ok, I don't know how he found us, but it definitely wasn't with normal instruments!" Pidge said panicking.

"It's me." Allura suddenly said and she had the most troubled look.

"What?" I said confused.

"It's been me all along. That's how they found us on the planet Arius!"

The castle shook violently when many Galra fighters began to fire at us.

"It doesn't matter Princess. We're in this together, we're gonna get out together." Shiro said.

"Uh how? We're trapped." Hunk asked.

"We need to form Voltron and go through the storm." He answered.

"The storm?! What, are you nuts?!" Lance retaliated.

"Yeah? W-w-what do you mean?! W-why would we do that?!" Hunk said freaking out.

"It's risky, I know but it's our only chance. We have to go through the storm, then lure Zarkon away from the ship, giving Allura time to get into open space." Shiro said.

"Then what?!" Allura asked.

"Then we wormhole away." Shiro said calmly and turned back to the main screen. "Coran, remember how you said getting this castle to wormhole would be impossible? Well I need you to do the impossible." He ordered.

We immediately jumped into action and I pressed a button on my screen lowering me down to my hangar. I put on my armor and jumped to grab ahold of my zip line. We quickly formed Voltron and flew into the storm with the Galra fighters right behind us.

"Team! Let's draw does fighters out." Shiro ordered.

"I think it's working, they're following us." I said.

They were not prepared for the high winds; they exploded crashing into one another.

"They can't follow us through the storm! It's tearing them part!" Keith shouted but suddenly we were hit by the debris the Galra ships left behind.

"The debris! It's gonna tear us apart if we don't do something!" Hunk exclaimed.

"Pidge, we're gonna need that shield, and Keith the sword! Taylin can you calm the wind closes to us?" Shiro asked.

"On it!" Pidge said.

"Yes sir!" Keith responded.

"Yes, just give me a moment." I concentrated like I did on the castle and created an invisible air bubble around us giving Voltron more freedom to move around.

The shield and sword had formed, and we were able to destroy or block the debris headed are way.

"Legs! I need everything you got!" Shiro ordered.

"Roger! Engaging lower thrusters!" Hunk said.

"I'm there with ya!" Lance joined in.

The boosters turned on and we got out of the storm, when we made our way out I lowered the air shield. Zarkon's ship followed us away from the eye of the storm, giving Allura a chance to move the castle.

"It worked, they escaped." Hunk said.

I tried to move us towards the castle, but my controls were not responding.

"What's happening?!" I yelled in frustration.

"My lion!" Hunk yelled.

"Argh! Zarkon…" Shiro grunted in pain.

"Zarkon's taking control of the Black Lion again!" Keith exclaimed.

"Fall back!" And we engaged the thrusters, but the force would not let us go.

An invisible force was dragging us back toward Zarkon's main ship. I growled at the pressure and felt how Voltron was being torn apart. I yelled in pain when the invisible force began to jab at my mind. Suddenly a panel rouse from my dashboard and an image of my Bayard flashed in my head. I understood what my lion was trying to tell me, I forced my arm away from my control with all the strength I could muster, and my Bayard appeared.

"You!…will not!…take Voltron!"

I pushed my Bayard into the control panel and twisted it. My lion's roar filled my cockpit and Voltron's chest began to glow with intensity. I fired a large white beam hitting the side of Zarkon's ship breaking us from his hold.

"Paladins! Now's your chance! Get out of there!" Allura exclaimed as she began to provide covering fire from the Galra fighters. I took hold of my handles and pushed forward moving Voltron away towards the castle.

"I forgot how intense Zarkon's connection to the Black Lion is. We have to keep our distance, or risk losing Voltron. Disband and get back to the castle." Shiro ordered and we came apart flying back into our hangars.

White landed and sat down on her hind legs, I took a deep breath, sweat covered my face.

"Why haven't we wormholed yet?!" Keith asked.

"Because we can't! We're missing several scaltrite lens stones. They've shattered! Gone! Don't exist! Sloven-day-ho! That's Altean for gone." Coran said annoyed.

"Maybe we can learn Altean later, right now we need a plan to get the teludav back and running." I said.

"Wait did you say scaltrite? I've seen that somewhere before. I think Hunk was making terrible cookies with that stuff." Pidge said, Hunk growl over the comm.

We ran into the kitchen and Coran picked one up to analyze it.

"Unbelievable! These cookies do have trace elements of scaltrite." Coran gasped.

"Will they work?" Shiro asked.

"They might be able to hold for one jump, but we'll still need several people actually holding them." He said making our eyes widened. "And if the trajectories were calculated just so…" he trailed off while we looked at each other. "Well don't just stand there, let's go!" Coran yelled, and we snapped out of it and followed quickly behind.

I was hanging upside down from the ceiling of the teludav tunnel holding two cookies up with my arms extended down.

 _What a great idea._ I frowned.

 _"Well you got to do, what you gotta do."_ Storm commented.

"I'll like to see you hanging here!" I ranted out loud making everyone look at me surprised. I awkwardly laughed, "I was talking to Storm." And let my head hang in embarrassment. I heard Storm chuckle and I mentally growled at him retracting my mind from him.

"It just warms my heart that people are enjoying my cookies." Hunk said gladly.

"Your heart is not the only thing that's going to get warm." I said annoyed.

"Ok there." Coran said as he accommodated the last cookie in between Hunk's feet.

"Now nobody move if you want to live." Suddenly the castle shook.

"I think I moved! I think I moved!" Lance yelled panicking.

"Well move back to where you think you where!" Coran yelled at him. "Ok, now I'm going to monitor the beam from out there." He said and slid away towards the tunnel's exit.

"Wait Coran! How dangerous is this?!" Hunk asked.

"Honestly, this is the most dangerous thing I've ever seen or heard of. But since we're probably gonna die anyways… What a heck! Let's give it a shot! Good look gentlemen and gentle ladies, it's been a pleasure. Don't touch the lasers!" He stated and saluted us before the doors closed.

I was frozen in place and began to feel light headed as my blood rushed to my head. I looked ahead, and the tunnel began to ignite in front of Shiro.

"This better work." I said under my breath.

"We're gonna die! We're gonna die! We're gonna die!" Lance yelled sobbing.

"No were not! Stop scaring the others!" I yelled back.

The first beam hit Shiro's cookies then bounced to Lance, but then it suddenly disappeared and the teludav turned off.

"It's not working!" Coran screamed from the outside of the tunnel.

"Coran, what's happening?! Zarkon's right on top of us!" Allura yelled over the comm.

"The stones aren't reflecting properly. I need something to shine them up! Wait a second, I think I got it. Hit the wormhole in ten ticks." He responded and slid back into the tunnel to stand in front of Shiro. He hugged himself and began to remove as much slick as possible from his body onto his hands.

"What's happening?" Shiro asked.

"Nobody move! I'm gonna shine these stones! Good thing I have the case of the slipperies!" He began to shine the stone as Allura began to count down. He came up to me and shined my cookies, some slick hit my visor, I looked at it with disgust. The teludav began to ignite once again but Coran was still not done shinning up the cookies, there was still one left in between Hunk's feet. He slid as fast as he could and shined it up with his face and went to hide behind the lenses of the tunnel. We all screamed as the tunnel became brighter, I shut my eyes tight when the beam came at me. Allura opened a wormhole and we escaped just in the tick of time before Zarkon fired his ion cannon.

The light in the teludav died down and it smelled like something burning.

"Great work team! We made it!…huh?" Allura looked at us shocked at our state, burnt and frozen in place.

Suddenly Lance fell from the ceiling of the tunnel where he was holding on with a loud thump. I dropped the cookies that were in my hand and untangled my legs landing on my feet. I turned around to look at Allura and saw that Storm had also come to check on us. I squinted my eyes at him, "Not a word."

Everyone recovered and began to move from their places and we exited the tunnel.

"That was scary." Hunk said.

"Yeah, I swear that laser was going to hit us." Lance agreed.

"What happened? Were we able to make a full jump?" I asked Allura.

"Yes!" She said clapping her hands happily.

"That's good. Now if you'll excuse me, I need a bath." I said tiredly and headed towards my room.

I walked in and saw myself in the mirror, my armor was a bit burned from the lasers. I removed it and washed it off in my bathroom sink. After a few ticks of scrubbing it finally looked white again.

"There, all clean."

I made my way into my shower and relaxed just enjoying the feel of the water on my skin. I finished, got dressed and headed back to the control room.

Sorry I have not updated in a while, I have been busy with school work.

Thanks to all of you for all the support, I really appreciate it.

Thanks for reading!

Leave a comment!

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	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

 **The Ark of Taujeer**

I walked into the control room seeing everyone had cleaned up after the teludav readjustment with the cookies.

"There's no point debating this further. Zarkon is clearly tracking us through me." Allura said, everyone interrupted her by denying her statement. "Why would that be so hard to believe? Zarkon's forces showed up on Arius only after I awoke."

"She's got a point. I would absolutely travel across the galaxy to find you." Lance smiled flirting with Allura.

"It's not you Princess Allura." Keith stated and we all turned to look at him. "It's me." He added, we all looked at him with confused faces.

"And why would you think that?" I asked.

"I just think…I mean Zarkon must have…imprinted on me during our fight or something." Keith said.

"That does not work that way. I fought beside you against Zarkon." I turned to look at Allura. "And we were awoken almost at the same time. Your theories have no relevance to how Zarkon has been finding us." I said crossing my arms.

"Look the fact is, we don't know how's Zarkon's tracking us. It could be through the Black Lion. Every time Zarkon gets close to it, Shiro has to fight him for control." Pidge said.

"That's only when Zarkon is nearby. No Paladin has been able to connect with their lion over a vast distance." Coran said.

"That's not true." I said, and everyone turned to look at me with blank expressions.

 _"Do you really want to reveal this?"_ Storm asked.

 _"They have the right to know. The lions chose them… meaning they trust them."_ I said giving him no room for an argument. They kept on looking at me waiting for me to answer, I sighed. "The connection between a Paladin and their lion, can in fact resist vast distances. When I crashed landed on the planet Trinder, after we got separated, I was able to contact my lion from a very far distance to return to the castle. The connection is very similar, if not the same as the bond I have with Storm. Before we were reunited, I was able to feel are connection even if it was faint. That is why I never lost hope that I would find him, our connection allowed me to know that he was still alive."

"What does your connection to Storm have to do with our connection to our lions? It just doesn't make any sense?" Keith asked a bit frustrated.

"It makes perfect sense since the lions use to be dragons once." I answered.

They looked shocked and confused at the same time.

"Wait, what?" Hunk asked scratching his head.

"We Drakie or dragons, whatever you like to call us, have a second lifeline inside our bodies called the heart of hearts. It is a crystal that lies in the middle of our chest internally that holds our memories, wisdom, our powers, and our soul." I explained placing my right hand on my chest.

"Wow, so it's like a data base." Pidge said fascinating by this news.

"Yes, sort of like that. Anyways, when we die we have the choice to keep on living through our heart of hearts. We can share our memories with others and talk into people's minds just how Storm communicates with us. Some of our elders where kept this way so that their knowledge would never be lost. Six heart of hearts were chosen by my father and placed into the lions making them seem like mystical beings, that is one of the reasons your lions can communicate with you through thought." I touched my temple.

"I always wondered how Blue could do that." Lance commented.

"Since most of you have created a bond with your lions, it is your right to know their true names. Those who have not yet formed a deeper bond, I cannot reveal their names just yet." I said.

I turned to Lance.

"Lance you have bonded with Blue and knowing his true name will create an even deeper connection, but you must be careful not to reveal this information to anyone and this goes for everyone else as well. This is a close guarded secret." I told him, and he nodded.

"Blue's true name is Azur, he was a dragon of the wind and one of the most powerful of his kind that is why he decided to keep on living through his heart of hearts. He jumped at the chance to make a difference by becoming a lion of Voltron." I said.

"Azur, he sounds so awesome!" He exclaimed rising his arms up.

"Oh-oh me next!" Pidge jumped up with her hand up in the air.

"Alright Pidge, the Green Lion's true name is Drakosvane or Vane for short, he was a dragon of nature. Vane was a very peaceful dragon who loved the forest and was one of the greatest minds of his time." I said.

"Wait, oh my gosh! I been calling my lion a she!" She said holding her head.

"Don't worry Pidge, I'm sure Vane doesn't mind." I assured her.

"Keith" I called, and he turned to look at me. "Red's true name is Brisinhart, he was a dragon of fire. Fire dragons where the most temperamental but considered the most loyal, fighting besides their riders until the end. Brisinhart was a great fighter and a master of air combat."

Keith looked at me wide eyed but said nothing.

"Hunk and Shiro, you two must create deeper bonds with your lions before I can tell you their true name. Shiro, by creating a deeper bond with your lion Zarkon will lose its hold on it, but you must try harder. Black is willing to make that bond with you, but you must help him do so." I said, he nodded with determination.

"What about your lion? What's its name?" Lance asked curiously.

"My lion is a bit different as she was a bonded Drako. Your lions were in a sense wild, they had no bond with a Drakie. White was bonded to my father, she was killed during battle protecting him, but she kept on living through her crystal. Her name is Nimawe, and she was born a frost dragon but since she was bonded with my father, she was able to manipulate other elements with his help. Nimawe chose me as her Paladin because I am the only one who can feed her that kind of power for her to harness into attacks and my energy is very similar to my father's."

"This is a lot to process." Pidge said.

"I know it is, but you must understand your lions. I reveled this secret to you because it is your right as Paladins, the lions trust you. It has not been easy for me ether, being bonded with two dragons is no easy task. I am the first of my kind to ever be bonded to two at the same time."

Shiro placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a small smile trying to reassure me that he was here for me.

"This all sounds very cool, but we still have the problem of Zarkon finding us, what do we do now?" Hunk asked.

"Look it doesn't matter how he's tracking us. We're gonna take the fight to the Galra soon enough. They've been chasing us from galaxy to galaxy. The last thing they expect is for us to come after them." Shiro said.

"The hunter becomes the hunted, awesome. That's a tagline from like six of my favorite movies." Lance commented.

"As it so happens, I took our list of recent Galra attacks and analyzed them for both commonalities and anomalies among the attack sites." Pidge said from her seat, typing away.

"I was hoping to create an algorithm that would, within a statistically acceptable margin of error, provide a list of target rich Galra environments, color coded because what are we animals?" We stared at her blankly after her last comment.

Pidge pressed a button on her screen and a map of the universe filled the room.

"So, it's a Galra finder?" Hunk asked after he tried to process her information.

"No finder suggests that it locates the Galra. Whereas it would be more accurate to say that my model predicts their likeliest…" Pidge turned looked away from her screen at us and saw our confusion. "Fine, it's a Galra finder." She said defeated.

"So where are the Galra?" Lance asked.

Pidge continued to type on her screen and a red beacon appeared on the map.

"The nearest ones are right here, a planet called Traujeer." Pidge said.

"Then that's where we're headed. Everyone should get some sleep, tomorrow we'll find the Galra fleet and take it out." Shiro ordered and everyone began to leave the room. I turned to leave too but Shiro stopped me.

"Taylin wait, I need to talk to you."

I turned around curious of what he wanted to say to me.

"Sure, alright."

Shiro turned to look at Keith who had not left the room.

"Is everything alright?" He asked him.

"Yeah, why?" Keith asked trying not to make eye contact.

"You seem a bit, anxious." Shiro said.

"I'm fine. Just tired. Like you said, I should get some sleep." Keith muttered and walked out rather quickly.

"Something is defiantly bothering him, he has been keeping his distance from the team for a while now." I said watching him go.

"Yeah, I noticed as well but Keith is not the type of person that opens up so easily." He said.

I remember that he needed to talk to me and turned to look at him.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked.

"I need your help to bond with my lion. I just don't know how to do it." He said running a hand through his hair.

I went to him and placed a hand on his arm.

"You need let Black guide you, only he can tell you how to bond with him. Just remember that the lions are in a sense, living creatures that have feelings."

I moved my hand and placed it over his heart.

"Feel what your lion feels. There is no deeper connection than to share emotion but most importantly you must be willing to create that bond, to trust in your lion." I finished with a smile.

He placed his hand over mine and held it in place.

"Thank you. I will try my best to create that bond." He smiled down at me.

"I know you will and that thought has already made you a better Paladin. Black could have not chosen a better pilot." I said placing a kiss to his cheek. "We should get some rest, you have not rested one bit." I said pulling my hand away from his chest and grabbing hold of his. I pulled him toward the exit and down the hall that would lead us to our rooms.

After we had a much-needed rest, we all where back in the control room. Coran was the first one there already working on our next mission.

"We should be entering Traujeer's orbit soon." Coran said.

"Alright, raise the particle barrier, scan for Galra." Shiro instructed.

I sat on my seat, but something felt off, I turned around and did not see Allura in her usual spot, Keith was missing too.

"Where is Allura and Keith?" I asked.

"It appears one of the pods launched in the middle of the night." Coran said looking surprised at his screen.

"Wait a minute! Keith and Allura, in the middle of the night… You don't think they're sitting in a tree?" Lance mumbled.

"Contact that pod." Shiro ordered.

"Yeah! Contact that pod!" Lance second him.

 _What are you up to Allura?_

Coran contacted the pod "Princess, Keith, where are you?"

"Exactly where we should be. Far away from the castle." Allura responded.

I was shocked that she actually left.

"What?! Why?" Shiro asked.

"We must know if we are the ones Zarkon is tracking us through." Allura answered.

"They've isolated the variable. Well isolated two variables." Pidge commented, I turned to look at her shocked that she actually agreed with them.

"In English please." Lance said.

"In order to test out a hypothesis- "

"I said English!" Lance interrupted her.

"Argh! Never mind!" Pidge growled and crossed her arms.

"Pidge is right. If Zarkon finds you despite my absence, we will know with total certainty that we're not the ones he's tracking." Allura said.

I was still shocked at all this until Storm nudged me with his snout and snapped me out. "Allura this is not the way. If Zarkon were to find you, he will not hesitate to take you out, you will be defenseless against an entire fleet with just a single pod. I implore you to please reconsider and come back to the castle…we are stronger together." I said.

"Taylin is right, splitting the group makes us far more vulnerable. Come back to the castle immediately." Shiro ordered.

"I'm sorry Shiro, I cannot do that." Allura said sadly.

"Keith we cannot form Voltron without you, if we fail it is going to be on you both. So, I suggest you get back here now." I said angrily and crossed my arms.

"If Zarkon does find us, I can pilot us to safety. We're in wide open space with plenty of room to maneuver. Plus, we'd be able to outrun them, Pidge added that booster rocket." Keith said totally neglecting what I just said.

"That thing still on there?!" Coran exclaimed.

"We need both of you back here now!" Shiro ordered firmly.

Suddenly the castle shook, and the alarms went off.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"We're is some type of debris field." Hunk said.

"I believe it's coming from Traujeer. Correction, I think it is Traujeer." Coran said panicking.

"Coran what's going on- "Allura asked but her voice suddenly cut off.

"Some kind of radiation from the planet is interfering communications." Coran said over his shoulder.

"Move the castle away from the planet and reestablish the link. Everyone else, get into your lions." Shiro instructed.

We all moved into positions lowering ourselves into our lions and coming out of our hangers as quickly as possible. There was lots of debris from the planet, the whole scene looked apocalyptical.

"Everyone form formation behind me, I'll crate a shield that will allows to pass through." I said.

I concentrated and pushed my energy out of my body and a shield was formed in front of Nymawe that only I could see. The others took positions behind me and we began our way through the debris, my shield pushed the floating rocks out of the way allowing us safe passage. As we broke into the atmosphere, there was a giant bug like ship and an alien that looked like a worm looking up at us. We landed our lions on the little land there was, everything else was a sea of acid.

"I don't see any Galra." Hunk observed.

"Looks like that fancy Galra finder doesn't work. Nice try Pidge." Lance commented making Pidge growled.

"There might not be any sign of Galra but stay alert, this planet is falling apart…It looks to be sheathing its outer layer." I observed.

Shiro exited his lion and ran to the alien.

"Thank goodness you're here. I am Baujal, the leader of the Taujeerians. The Galra just destroyed our ship's engines and left." His voice came over Shiro's comm.

"So, the Galra were here, Lance." Pidge remarked.

"They've taken everything, we must get everyone off the planet before it dissolves completely. Please help us!" Baujal pleaded looking at the cracks forming on the ground.

"How long do we have?" Shiro asked but a rumble cut off the Baujal before he could answer and the ground beneath us shook violently.

The cracks began to become bigger and green acid seeped through the fissures. I feared for Shiro's safety and placed and invisible shield around him and the alien.

"Not long." Hunk said scared.

"How did this happen?!" Shiro asked.

"We've known for years that our planet would eventually lose its outer layer." Baujal answered.

"Like a snake shedding its skin?" Lance asked.

"Yeah, that doesn't sound so bad, beneath that old skin is a new and healthy layer, right?" Hunk asked trying to reassure himself.

"Nope, no I think the next layer is acid." Pidge said; the ground shook again; more acid began to ooze out.

"The plan was to evacuate the population to our nearest moon, where we have built a colony to wait out the shedding process. So, we relocated to higher ground and constructed that ark." The alien continued and pointed at the ship behind him.

"What happened?" Lance asked.

"The Galra attacked, led by the vile commander named Morvok. He robbed us of our vital resources and left us with only one operational engine, stranding us here." Baujal said with venom in his voice.

I felt a fire ignite in my chest that began to spread through my veins in anger.

 _How could they be so heartless!_

"You're not stranded anymore, we will save your people." Shiro assured him.

"I believe you, for I have heard many legends of the valor of Voltron. Six brave Paladins dedicated to this-wait. I count only five of you. Are you not Voltron?" Baujal asked confused.

"We are…we just have to make do with what we have." I muttered.

"He's not here, but we can still help you." Shiro said determined.

"I would feel more comfortable with all six Paladins." Baujal remarked with disappointment.

"Duly noted." Shiro muttered.

"Pidge, Hunk. Take a look at that Ark and see what we're dealing with." Shiro ordered.

"Piece of cake, we'll get it flying in no time..." Hunk said but suddenly the ground shook again and one of the legs holding the ark snapped off.

"Would you settle for upright?" Hunk muttered.

"Uhhh, let's take this one step at a time." I said blankly.

"Assuming we can get it back up, the repairs will still take time." Pidge said as we took a look at the damage.

"Which would be the one thing that we don't have." Lance said.

"We need to slow down the shedding." Shiro added.

"How do you stop a planet that's coming apart at the seams?!" Pidge asked.

"By sewing it back together." Hunk answered.

"What do you mean?" Shiro asked confused.

"That new Green Lion weapon causes vegetation to grow right? Well I was thinking that if you aim it at the cracks on the planet, the vines can act like stitches." Hunk explained his plan.

"That's a great idea Hunk! I can assist Pidge in creating the vines, but we still have one problem, how will we stop them from dissolving? The acid will clearly burn them in an instant." I added.

"The stitches might hold longer if they're frozen." Pidge suggested.

"It's a plan. Hunk and I will take our lions and get this ark upright. Pidge, Taylin, and Lance, go and buy us some time." Shiro ordered.

We moved our lions into position and I transferred the desired element into my lion and pushed on my handle shooting a green beam from my lion's jaws. Vines began to grow on the seams, Pidge soon followed doing the same. As we worked on stitching the ground together, Lance froze the vines keeping the acid from burning through them at a much slower rate.

"The frozen vines seem to be holding but I don't know how much time they will hold…maybe…" I said breaking off into thought.

"What do you have in mind Tay?" Pidge asked.

"I can create new ground around us buying ourselves even more time." I said.

"Yeah! That should work." Lance exclaimed while freezing another vine.

"What can we do?" Pidge asked.

"I need you keep creating vines and Lance to keep freezing them while I concentrate on summoning the new ground." I said.

"Roger that." Lance said.

I moved White to hover over just a few inches from the ground and closed my eyes concentrating. I thought of the terra element and felt how a tingle of energy ran through my body and ended at the palm of my hands.

"Element of Terra, I summoned thee." I whispered and placed my hands on my lion's handles lowering her down to the ground. Once she touched downed a wave of energy spread out all around us creating new ground for couple of miles.

"That works too." Lance commented.

"And in the nick of time, the vines where starting to dissolve." Pidge said.

"Are you like, able to create new land on the whole planet?" Lance asked.

"I'm sure I could but the energy will be too immense to sustain. I run the risk of exerting all of my energy and killing myself in the process." I answered grimly.

There was nothing I wished more that to heal this entire planet, but the risk was too high. I sighed and turned to look at the ark. Hunk was outside his lion welding the ark's leg with his Bayard.

"Well it ain't pretty but it should get it airborne." Hunk said when he finished.

A strong quake rumbled throughout the land causing small fissures on the regenerated ground. Baujal ran into the ark and the engine of the ark began to lift off slowly, but suddenly it was shot down and came crashing to the ground.

"The Galra are back!" I exclaimed looking towards the sky.

A Galra cruiser appeared from among the heavy gas and it fired again this time hitting the ground close to the ark that leaned dangerously close towards the acid.

"Hunk! Get the Yellow Lion down there and lift up the ark! If the ship falls in, the Taujeerians are doomed." Shiro instructed and Hunk moved into position beneath the belly of the ark.

"Not to mention the guy beneath them. Which would be me in this particular scenario." Hunk retorted panicking.

"The ark is too heavy for just the Yellow Lion, I don't think he will be able to hold it for too long." I said.

"The sooner we get the Galra away, the sooner we can go help Hunk. We have to draw the cruiser's fire." Shiro said.

We followed Shiro's lead toward the Galra ship dodging attacks as we went.

"Coran, we need you here now. Attack the Galra cruiser." Shiro ordered.

"Right away!" Coran answered and moved the castle into defense position.

"There aiming their ion cannon at the ark!" I exclaimed.

"Lance, Pidge! Attack the ship with your jaw blades!" Shiro commanded.

Their jaw blades appeared on cue and they began to slice the ship's hull.

"Taylin you're with me, we have to destroy that cannon." Shiro said.

I summoned my lion's jaw blade and flew alongside Shiro towards the ion cannon. The cannon was charging up, we managed to make some damage, but we were too late, it had already fired. The shot hit near the Yellow Lion making the pit of acid even bigger.

"Rocks! Big, big rocks!" Hunk exclaimed as the force of the impacted caused boulders to fly towards him.

"We got you buddy." Lance said, he pushed some rocks away and Pidge shot at them disintegrating them in the air. The Galra had intensified their attack and all their cannons were now firing at us. I saw the castle move to attack and Coran shot at the cruiser.

"Way to go Coran! Hunk, what's your status?" Shiro asked.

"Mostly just trying not to fall into the bubbling pit of acid." Hunk grunted.

"We're being overwhelmed!" Coran exclaimed as the castle was under heavy fire.

"We need Voltron!" Pidge yelled.

"Oh, if only there were another who could pilot the Red Lion." Coran said to himself.

One of the cannons was had locked on me, Nymawe placed an image of it in my head as a warning. I dodged the attacked and fired on it through her jaws causing an explosion.

"Coran, how are you doing?" I asked. "Coran?" I asked again when I got no answer.

"Uh ok, guys…Um, the Red Lion ran away." He finally said.

"What do you mean it ran away?!" I asked.

 _"It got up and flew away."_ Storm spoke in my head and send an image of the Red Lion leaving its hangar.

 _"Do you think Keith is in trouble?"_ I asked concerned.

 _"He might be, we will know soon."_ Storm answered and withdrew from my head.

"I can't hold it any longer!" Hunk's desperate voice snapped me out of thought.

"Hunk, you have to! If you let go, the Taujeerians will die!" Shiro warned.

"Hunk! Trust in your lion!" I yelled.

Suddenly the Yellow Lion roared, and more armor appeared on its body and its claws were reinforced. It dug its claws deeper in the soil preventing him and the ark to fall into the scorching acid.

"Whoa, Whoa! Armor claws!" Hunk exclaimed excited.

He activated his booster and pushed back on the ark moving it a few feet inland.

"Guys, I'm gonna need your help if we want to keep this ark from falling any further." Hunk said.

"We're coming!" I said putting my lion into a nose dive, we all pushed on the ark with everything we had.

"The ark is too heavy for the lions." I grunted.

Suddenly and alarm sounded from my dashboard, the Galra had locked on us with their ion cannon. Just when they were about to fire, the Red Lion appeared and sliced it off with its jaw blade. The cannon fell from the ship and landed in the hot pool of acid.

"Good to have you back Keith." Shiro said relieved.

"Good to be back." Keith answered.

"Is the Princess with you?" Lance asked.

"Yes."

"But, like with you with you or- "

"Uh Keith, little help." Hunk grunted cutting off Lance's comment.

"On my way buddy." Keith said, and he came to our aid pushing against the ark.

Now that we had all the lions, it was enough strength to push the ark back to safety.

"Alright everybody, no time to relax. Let's show them what they're dealing with. Form Voltron!" Shiro ordered and we began to transform. As we did so, the Galra ship began to move towards the ark.

"They're aiming for the ark!" Pidge yelled.

"They're going to ram it!" Hunk exclaimed.

"We'll have to meet them head on. Form sword!" Shiro ordered and Keith formed the sword; I moved Voltron toward the incoming cruiser.

"Will the sword be able to cut through an entire battle cruiser?" Lance asked.

"It'll have to." Shiro answered.

My lion lowly growled and the panel that connects to my Bayard opened and lit up in a white florescent color.

"Guys, I think my lion is telling me something." Keith said.

"Yeah mine too." Lance added.

"I can feel it too!" Pidge exclaimed.

"Same here." Hunk said.

"Then do it!" Shiro said and they all punched in their Bayards but nothing seem to happen.

"Nothing's happening!" Hunk exclaimed.

"It's my turn." I said.

I summoned my Bayard and punched it in into my control panel and twisted it. Suddenly the sword glowed bright blue and grew into an even bigger sword with a curved edge.

"Oh, that's awesome!" Lance exclaimed.

"Not more awesome than this!" I said with a smirk.

I moved Voltron towards the Galra ship slicing it in half like it was a piece of paper. The ship exploded and fell into the acid saving the Taujeerians from certain destruction.

"Now let's get the Taujeerians to safety." Shiro said.

We flew towards the ark taking ahold of it and flew them out of the atmosphere towards their moon. The Taujeerians all applauded and thanked us for saving them. We disbanded and headed back into the castle with a warm feeling in our hearts.

We had all united in the castle's control room after placing our lions into their hangars.

"I'm so sorry for leaving." Allura apologized as she brought her hands together and hung her head in shame.

"Me too. We thought we were doing the right thing." Keith added.

"But clearly you were correct Taylin. We are always stronger together." Allura said.

I walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder trying to cheer her up.

"It's alright, you both came back to aid us. Sometimes we do things that might seem right at the moment." I said with a smile.

"At least we learnt that Zarkon isn't tracking us through you two." Lance said and crossing his arms.

"Plus, I learnt that my lion can grow armor and extend its claws like this. Ching!" Hunk said clawing at the air with his hands.

"Which will come in handy if we ever needed to say, I don't know, slice up a giant steak while getting beat up." We looked at him blankly and he gave us a sheepish smile, "Or fight evil and save innocent people, that too, that would work." He added quickly scratching his head.

"The fact that the Red Lion came to help Keith from so far away is a vital piece of information. We now have proof that a lion and a Paladin can in fact connect over a far greater distance than we realized. Which means we finally know how Zarkon is tracking us."

"It's through the Black Lion." I finished for Allura.

Finally admitting the dreaded truth.

Thanks for reading!

Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas for implementing in the story.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

 **Space Mall**

"Ok look, I know for certain that Zarkon is tracking us through the Black Lion. We have to find some way to stop him." Shiro said.

"How are we gonna do that?" Pidge asked.

"We've never has this situation before. Two Paladins battling for the same lion." Allura commented.

"The only way I see this, Shiro must form a stronger bond with his lion to weaken Zarkon's hold over him. He is the only Paladin of old that is still alive, otherwise, we would all have the same problem." I said brushing my bottom lip in thought.

"Yeah I guess you're right. Unless we want Zarkon to take control of Voltron every time we get close, I'll have to forge a new bond with my lion. One that's stronger than his." Shiro agreed.

"Well while you're working on that, the rest of us need to find some new teladuv lenses. Otherwise we won't be able to travel via wormhole." Coran broke our thoughts.

"Is that something we have to mail order?" Hunk asked.

"Does anyone even make those anymore?" Keith joined in.

"I don't know. Only a few Alteans could use the teladuv ten thousand years ago. They may not exist anymore." Allura huffed.

Coran seemed lost in thought pulling at his mustache constantly.

"I may know where we could find some." He said breaking out of thought and rushed to the control panel to display a picture of him in traveler cloths. Looking at the picture closely, in the background was King Alfor talking to a merchant.

"Coran! You're not suggesting on going to one of those filthy swap moons! The last time you went there, those space pirates took you for everything you had!" Allura scolded crossing her arms.

"I don't like the sound of that, it could be dangerous to deal with these space pirates. I used to hear stories of ships getting raided by them and now that I remember one of our ships was boarded; they took expensive Drakie technology." I added to Allura's comment.

"Space pirates?" Lance asked.

"The Unilu were traders and pirates that roamed the galaxies and dealt in black market goods. Umvy spice, By-tor water, little bottles of infinity vapor. Of course, you had to bargain. No one could bargain like the Unilu." Coran laughed. "Last time, I ended up giving away three quarters of my shipment of lango in exchange for used pogo oscillator."

"Father was not pleased about that." Allura said with a laugh.

"Wow Coran, does pirates showed no mercy." I grinned.

"Well while Coran is picking up his lenses, I'll take you shopping for something sparkly." Lance said edging closer to Allura with his signature smirk.

"This isn't shopping!" Coran jumped in pushing Lance back.

"You're not wandering around saying: Oh, what a lovely pink hat! This is so becoming." He said in the most girlish voice he could muster but immediately change stance crossing his arms into an X. "No! I cannot allow Allura to get anywhere near those filthy, lowballing Unilu hoodlums!" Coran finished scolding Lance.

"But I love something sparkly!" Allura grinned widely trying to convenience Coran to let her go.

I watched with an amused face at Coran's over protective father instincts.

"Look you're the only one who can operate the castle. You need to be resting, after all you've been through." Coran stated as a matter of factly and turned away from her making Allura slouch her shoulders in defeat.

"Well I'm going, and nobody can say anything about it." I crossed my arms and held my head high.

"But…" Coran began to retaliate.

"No buts Coran, my mind is made up."

"Fine" he sighed "let's ready a pod for our mission. We need to get in, find the scaultrite lenses, and get out." Coran instructed and headed for the door.

"Shotgun!" Lance suddenly called out and ran after Coran.

"What?! No! You have to be in the pod bay to call shotgun!" Hunk yelled after him.

I turned to look at Shiro who was standing off to a side and walked to him. I place a hand on his shoulder and kissed his cheek. "Good luck with your bonding. I believe in you."

He smiled down at me and placed a kiss to my forehead.

"Be careful."

"Always I'm." I smiled and turned to leave the control room.

 _"Don't get into trouble."_ Storm instructed.

 _"I'll be fine Storm, there just pirates. How bad could this trip be. I'll be back before you know it."_

Well it looked like our trip was off to a great start, thanks to Lance calling shot gun we were cramped in the back of the pod. It was a silent ride, everyone was keeping to themselves caught up in their own thoughts. I wondered how Shiro was doing with creating a new bond with the Black Lion. I felt a bit guilty for not telling him sooner about Zarkon being the original Paladin of his lion. Maybe if I had told him sooner this would have never happened and Shiro would have been more prepared to deal with it.

"Hello back passengers. Can you hear me?" Coran broke my stream of thought.

"Oooh it's so comfy up here. Extra leg space, heated seats. Oh man!" Lance sneered making Hunk pout and cross his arms in annoyance.

"Now these swap moons are very dangerous environments. So be on your toes. No weapons or communication devices of any kind. Also, I've brought along some disguises." Coran said.

His last comment made us look at each other with in confusion.

Coran landed the pod and came around to the back to hand us our disguises. He gave me mine that consisted of a long tunic that had a long hood. When I put it on, it covered all my body making me look twice my size.

"That will help deceive the pirates that you are female." Coran stated.

"I see..." I sighed getting annoyed by the long hood that kept on falling too far down blocking my sight. I saw the others wearing their disguises as well and let me tell you, we did not look like pirates. I had no idea what we looked like or my definition of pirate must be very different from Coran's. We took are leave heading toward the entrance of the black market but when we arrived my first thought was that Coran had brought us to the wrong moon.

"Uh Coran…this Unilu swap meet looks an awful lot like…a regular mall." Pidge spoke up. Her voice sounded muffled since she was wearing a cloth around half of her head.

This place looked clean and peaceful with people strolling from one store to another, soft music played in the background.

"You sure you did not land on the wrong moon?" I asked rising my eyebrows.

"Well it does seem to be a little cleaner that I remember." Coran murmured looking around. "Still be vigilant. The Unilu are cut-throat wheeler-dealers. So, keep your hands on your coin satchels." Coran warned returning to look at us.

"Uh, my satchels are empty." Hunk said turning around to show Coran his satchel.

"Let's just get this over with." Keith groaned while crossing his arms.

"Everyone. Let's fan out. Search the area for teladuv lenses. We'll meet by the giant ticking clock here in one varga. Don't be late, and try to blend in." Coran said before making his leave.

There was no way I was going to be able to blend in with these clothes. People were passing by and giving us me weird looks. I was not the only one with the same idea. We dumped our disguises in the nearby trash can, if I wanted to join a cult I would ware this.

Everyone fanned out into separate directions of the mall without another word.

I had walked most of my quadrant but none of the stores I had passed by seemed to be selling teladuv lenses. I guessed ever since the fall of Altea, they stopped existing, they just had no use for them. As I kept walking I could not help but to feel as if I was being watched. I turned around a couple of times but always found people just strolling around minding their own business. It's not like people recognized who I was, it had been ten-thousand years since anyone heard of me. I'm sure that my name had become a sort of a legend or myth people told stories to their children. It was sad that to most of these people, the Drakie never existed. They had to live under Zarkon's steel fisted rule never knowing how real freedom tasted like.

Walking up to a store to see what there were selling, I felt once again eyes on me. I remained calm and demonstrated interest in the items displayed behind the glass exhibition. I pushed my mind out of to try to find the stalker jumping from alien to alien.

 _Where are you? …_

I jumped into the mind of a teenage girl who was fantasizing about some dress she saw and retreated to the next. In the mind of this person, I saw myself looking at the glass display.

"Gotcha."

Turning around quickly I saw my stalker behind one of the mall's columns and quickly moved towards them before they knew what was going on. They noticed me coming and retreated running the opposite direction pushing a lady out of the way. Boy did they run fast, their cloak flew behind them ruffling side to side with speed. I knew I could stop them easily with my powers, but there were too many witnesses. It was possible that word could reach Zarkon and he would come searching for Voltron here. I kept running after the stalker ignoring the stares from the people passing by. Pushing myself to the limit I was able to get closer, just a few feet behind them. They turned a corner into a passage way with very little people who did not seem to notice what was going on. I kept on running waiting for them to finally walk in to the nearest store. There were pots of plants decorating the walk way and when they finally walked into the shop, I used my powers to extend vines from the nearest plant wrapping them around the stalker, holding them in place. They struggled against their tight hold, but it was of no use, the chase was over.

"Who are you?! And what do you want with me?!"

They kept of struggling against the vines kicking their feet in the air.

"Answer me!"

"Can't…breath…" They managed to wiz in between breaths.

I loosened the vines a bit and used the wind element to remove their hood. I was met with a familiar blue skin and bright eyes.

"Lanex?!"

Thanks for reading!

Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas for implementing in the story.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

 **Guilt**

"What are you doing here?!"

I was shocked to see Lanex, here of all places, far away from his home planet.

"If you could please let me go, I can explain." He pleaded.

I was a bit hesitant to let him go, it was strange of him to be following me around, but I ordered the vines to withdraw setting Lanex on the ground.

"Explain." I crossed my arms waiting for his answer.

"Well first of", he scratched his head, "I'm sorry for following you like that, I did not mean any disrespect, I just wanted to get your attention without drawing attention to myself, but I sort of failed at that." He hung his head low.

I sighed and uncrossed my arms.

"What are you doing here Lanex so far away from your home, your father must be worried sick." I said in a more soothing tone.

"A lot has happened since you landed on our planet, many things have changed. I don't know where to start." He sounded distressed.

"Have about you start from the beginning." I motioned him to follow me to a nearby bench to sit.

He looked around a bit fidgeting with his hands not making eye contact with me. I let him take his time, to gather his thoughts until he finally sighed and turned to look at me.

"We had no problems with the beast who tortured our village. Ever since the demise of their alfa, they fled to the mountain peaks only occasionally returning to hunt small game. You have no idea how much my people thank you for freeing us. The children of the village can finally play outside without their parents having to worry for their safety."

"It was my pleasure to help your people, but I don't believe you came all this way to thank me again. Tell me, what happened after I left?"

He thought for a bit and began to speak again.

"Remember when I told you that there were only a few Galra bases on our planet and that they were practically inactive?"

"Yes, I do recall you mentioning it." I said nodding my head.

"Well, they were not so inactive as we thought. They reported back to Zarkon that you were seen our planet and that my people were hiding you from him. They got footage of you fighting the beasts and creating the storm. Everything was peaceful for a few days after you left, but then a Galra fleet appeared and began to search for you. They had no respect for any of our homes, they raided ours and nearby villages taking all our valuable resources. After they did not find you, they rounded up everyone and made them work like slaves, mining for precious metals."

I was stunned with every word he said, my mouth hanged open speechless. I had liberated them from does beasts but brought the most horrible monster of all to their planet. It was my fault, I tried to do good but only ended up making it worse.

"How…how did you get away?" I asked when I finally found my voice.

"My father was able to free me from the slave camp and gave me directions to a hidden ship he had kept secret from them. I landed on a nearby planet to try to get information of your whereabouts, I heard that Voltron was last seen in the Taujeer sector taking down a Galra cruiser. I made my way to that planet and was able to pick up traces of your ship, when I finally found you, I kept my distance waiting for the best opportunity to approach. I saw a pod leaving and followed it and well, here we are."

I looked down at my feet, "This is all my fault, I brought the Galra fleet to your planet. It's my fault that your people are now enslaved." I sighed and ran a hand through my hair in frustration of not being able to do something to stop the invasion.

Lanex placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it a bit. "Do not blame yourself, we needed help and you granted it. Nobody could have predicted what occurred." He reassured.

"You might be right, but that does not make the guilt any less." I placed a hand over his on my shoulder and looked at him in the eye. "I promise you that I will do everything I can to free your planet from the Galra and even go beyond to do the impossible. Your people will once again be free of the tyranny that has befallen the galaxy."

"All I want is your help, I did not come here to blame you for anything. I admire your courage and your willingness to help others." He said with a smile.

"If anybody here is courageous, it's you." I returned the gesture. "Come." I stood up, "We have to find the others and see if they had better luck finding the lenses we need for our ship."

Lanex stood up and began to walk beside me no longer fidgeting with his hands. His expression was now calm and not scanning the area like before with fear of a Galra in every dark corner.

We strolled through the mall in silence looking at every shop we passed but non-caught my attention. I could not get my mind off the poor Trinderians in the slave camps. Suddenly someone picked me up, threw me over their shoulder and began to run.

"What!" I yelled surprised.

"Hey! Let her go!" Lanex protested and began to run after me.

That's when I noticed my would-be kidnapper was none other than Hunk, Keith ran beside him.

"Hunk put me down!" I protested.

"Can't, Security's on our tail!"

"What security! I don't see…oh" I noticed an out of shape Galra on a hover bike coming our way.

Pidge and Lance soon joined us running behind us, but we suddenly came to a stop. I turned my body to be able to look behind me, we had run into a dead end.

"Everyone up on Kaltenecker!" Lance yelled, and everyone made their way to a black and white looking animal standing on a platform above the ground.

"You bought a cow?!" Keith yelled back and grabbed Pidge's hand to get on said cow. Hunk placed me on the cow's back and we began to move abruptly, I clung to Keith's back afraid of falling off. Hunk did not have time to get on and clung to the cow's tail.

"Hey, wait up!" Lanex yelled a few feet away. I used my powers to launch him into the air and on to the cow's back before we flew down from the second floor. Everyone screamed and held on to each other. Mid-air, we noticed Coran exiting a shop with a smile on his face which quickly changed to confusion when he saw us.

"There he is!" Pidge yelled.

"We gotta go, Coran!" Keith cried out.

"I got the scaultrite lenses!" Coran yelled back and grabbed ahold of Keith's hand just as the shop owner came out running after him. We made our way to the exit finally making it to the tunnel that would lead us back to the pod.

"You better run! Don't let me catch you pirates!" The Galra guard screamed at us with his fist in the air. We stopped his pursuit at the entrance of the tunnel.

Lance stood up to look behind him "Oh? So, you can't follow us outside huh?" He taunted.

"Lance! be care…" I tried to warn but he hit his forehead on one of the beams running across the ceiling and fell to the ground. Keith managed to stop the cow.

"Uh, are you ok?" I asked concerned.

"Peachy." He grunted carefully standing up and we made our way back to the pod.

We were a bit more cramped since I had brought Lanex along with us.

"Who is he?" Keith asked with distrust.

"He's a friend and he will be coming with us back to the castle."

"But..." I placed a hand on his shoulder stopping him from saying anything else.

"I'll explain when we get back to the ship."

Back on in the castle we quickly followed behind Coran to the control room to give Allura the good news about the lenses. Coran had managed to find one of the Unilu old shops and bargained for them. He mentioned that the Unilu had no idea what they were.

"We got our lenses!" Coran exclaimed running into the control room.

"Excellent!" Allura exclaimed back.

I looked at my old friend and cringed at the horrible hairstyle she had on.

"Now we can get the teladuv running." She finished.

"Experimenting with new hairstyles Allura?" I asked her trying not to smile.

"What, do you like it?" She asked fluffing up her hair.

"Ummm, I think we can find something more suitable for you."

"Where's Shiro?" Keith asked and as if on cue the control room doors opened and in he walked, I gave him a wide smile. He seemed to be more at ease and his aura radiated confidence, Storm follows behind him greeting me with a slight bow of his head.

"What did you do? Take a nap?" Allura asked.

"Not exactly." Shiro smiled crossing his arms but then turned confused when he turned to his left to look at Lance who now had a bandage on his forehead.

"Is that a cow?"

"Mmhm, his name is Kaltenecker." Lance introduced proudly, the cow mooed in response.

"So, did you find a way to bond with your lion?" Keith asked.

"Yes, and we need to get moving. We're heading for the Blade of Marmora headquarters." Shiro responded. Coran moved to his control panel to punch in the coordinates. Pidge ran up to Lance's seat with a box in her hands. They began to open it pulling out a device.

"Yeah, let's get this baby set up!" Lance exclaimed.

Pidge began to look around the control room, "Where do we…how do…" they both suddenly froze, and Pidge gave a loud yell. I had no idea what was wrong with her but instead of trying to figure it out, I had more pressing matters to attend to.

"I can't go with you to the Blade of Marmora." I said making everyone stop what they were doing to look at me.

"What do you mean?" Shiro asked with his eyebrows creased.

 _"Is something the matter Taylin? I sense… uneasiness."_ Stormed asked concerned.

I sighed before answering. "As you all see, we have a visitor aboard the ship." I gestured to Lanex who stood in a faraway corner.

"How did he get in?!" Allura asked alarmed.

Lanex had been so quiet that Allura and Shiro had not noticed his presence.

"Relax Allura, he is a friend." I said putting a hand up to stop her from approaching him.

"When we got separated back in the wormhole accident, I landed on the planet Trinder where I found Lanex who offered to help me contact the castle. As I mentioned before, I helped free Lanex's people from horrible beasts that terrorized his village and others around them." Everyone looked at me attentively as I talked. "Trinder is mostly a frozen planet, the Galra outpost looked deserted since Trinder does not have much to offer the empire. It turns out, the Galra outposts were not so deserted as the inhabitants thought. They send a message to Zarkon's headquarters letting him know of my location, bringing a fleet upon the planet to search for me."

Lanex took a step forward, "I can confirm, I escaped from one of the prisoner camps with the help of my father. They rounded up all civilians in the sector and made them work in mining tunnels scavenging for any useful resources for the empire."

"I'm very sorry to hear that, I know how you must feel." Allura commented with sadness.

"I must assist Lanex back on his planet to free his people from their Galra oppressors." I said and inhaled deeply. "I brought this upon the Trinderians, I must set them free. I was the one Zarkon was looking for, they should not pay for my actions."

"But you can't separate the team, it is important for us to head to The Blade of Marmora as soon as possible. We need them as allies or Ulaz's sacrifice would have been in vain." Keith growled.

I turned to look at him sternly straight in the eyes, "You do not have to remind me of the sacrifice Ulaz made for us, but I cannot just simply walk away from those who need my help."

"The whole universe needs your help, we cannot just drop everything for one planet. There are hundreds of planets out there waiting for someone to free them." He barked back.

"Could you stop being so selfish for just a moment and listen to yourself. The Trinderians could be beneficial allies like any other can be. I am not going to stand here and do nothing." I finished with a growl.

Keith was about to rant back when Storm moved to stand behind me and released a very low and menacing snarl that shut him up.

"Ok, everyone calm down there is no need to fight." Shiro said, "Taylin I know you want to help but we are stronger together. We do not know what awaits us in The Blade of Marmora and we don't know if we will require Voltron. Let's stick to our original plan and head to Trinder as soon as possible, together."

I looked at him and my anger subdued a bit. His eyes reflected sincerity and understanding of my mission.

"Alright" I agreed.

I just hoped we were not too late.

What do you guys think? Should Tay go out on her own to save the Trinderians before its too late or wait for the others to assist with Voltron?

OMG who's exited for season 5 coming out March 2nd! I can't wait!

Well until next time.

Thanks for Reading!


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

 **The Blade of Marmora**

I decided to take Shiro's advice and stay with the team to head to The Blade of Marmora. Lanex understood the importance of keeping the team together in order for Voltron to work. After Pidge's big disappointment of her game console, she accompanied Coran to the teludav to replace the broken lenses. I was in the control room waiting for Coran and Pidge to finish up and be on our way. I turned to my left to see Keith standing by his chair with his arms crossed looking out at the vastness of space. Taking a deep breath, I walked towards him and stood to his left.

"Hard to believe we only seen a small part of space." I commented.

"Mhhm" Keith responded but said nothing more.

I turned to look at him, but he kept his gaze straight.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you earlier…it was harsh of me." I apologized with sincerity.

He sighed looking down and after a few ticks, he finally turned to look at me.

"No, I'm sorry for my outburst." Keith apologized.

He turned back to look outside of the castle and said nothing more. I learned that Keith was a man of short sentences and hot tempered. He had been acting strange since the day we met Ulaz and kept to himself even more than before.

Suddenly Pidge and Coran came back in rushing to their stations.

"Are we ready to go?" I asked, Shiro came to stand next to me placing an arm over my shoulders.

"Yes, my queen, the broken lenses have all be replaced. We are now ready to continue on with our mission." Coran responded.

"Alright, let's get moving." Shiro said.

Allura took her place on the control platform and maneuvered the castle into the right direction. Everyone seemed on edge of what we would find when we arrived.

 _"I wonder how we will be received."_ I thought.

 _"Hard to believe there are Galra fighting against Zarkon. Everyone seems to think so, the atmosphere is so thick in here, I could cut it with my talons."_ Storm commented.

 _"It not easy to trust a race that has caused so much harm to the universe."_ Thoughts of our planet flooded my mind. _"They ended our planet like water extinguishing a flame."_

 _"Don't fret, Zarkon will get his due…Perhaps these Blade of Marmora can help us after all."_

 _"I hope your right Storm…I hope your right."_

"How soon till we get to The Blade of Marmora?" Shiro asked after what seemed like two vargas had gone by. I had moved to sit in my seat and Shiro stood to my right.

"Based on the coordinates that Ulaz gave us, we should be there within a few dobodashes." Coran answered.

"I can't wait to see it! I mean, they were able to fold space time and that was just at an outpost!" Pidge exclaimed excitedly.

"Mmm, the space taco." Hunk licked his lips and rubbed his belly. "It left us too soon."

"Well sure…but my point is, imagine how amazing their home base will be!" Pidge said raising her arms.

"Exactly! It could take on any shape, like a jelly donut or long like a space eclair, or a cheese blintz with cherry sauce on top. Maybe a little dusting of powdered sugar, that's the stars." Hunk went on almost drooling on himself.

"Aww, now I'm hungry for breakfast." Lance whined.

"Guys, this is a serious mission. We need to focus." Keith said trying to get his team mates back on task.

Lance mocked him by repeating his words, successfully annoying him.

 _Those two will never change._ I thought rolling my eyes.

"The base is in range." Coran stated.

Everyone immediately looked up, I stood up from my seat.

"Take us in slowly." Shiro instructed.

"That might prove the thinnest bit of a challenge." Coran responded.

In front of us were two black holes facing each other, their magnetic fields created a swirling tunnel between them and in the center laid a bright blue sphere.

"Is that a black hole?" Hunk asked amazed.

"What is that in the center?" I asked.

"No, no, no, no, its two black holes and a giant blue star." Coran explained.

"That's not better." Hunk said.

"How is that possible?" Lanex commented in awe.

"No kidding. Just inside the black hole, the temperature is one millionth of a degree above absolute zero. But just outside of that, its hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius." Pidge explained.

"Ok, it's like when you try to nuke a frozen burrito in the microwave and it comes out all scorching hot on the outside but still frozen in the middle, right?" Hunk made his own explanation.

"Now I'm hungry for lunch." Lance whined again.

"Guys quiet!" Keith outburst as he glared at us. "Coran, where's the base?" He asked.

"In between those three celestial objects." He answered.

Coran magnified the image and in front of the blue start was a small rock.

"The perfect defensive position." Pidge examined.

"Or the perfect trap." Allura added with distrust.

"Yeah, I'm with Allura. Maybe we shouldn't like go in there at all?" Hunk expressed his discomfort.

"What are you talking about?!" Keith exclaimed gaining our attention. "We have to go in! This is the whole reason we came out here, there is no other option!"

"Ok, geez, calm down." Lance said trying to get Keith to settle down.

Keith glared at him and turned away crossing his arms with a scowl.

 _"Something is seriously wrong with that boy."_ Stormed commented as he eyed him attentively.

Suddenly a code began to appear on the main screen in purple font and a female's monotonic voice filled the room.

"Identify yourself."

"Open a hailing frequency Coran." Shiro ordered.

Coran typed a few things on his control panel and signaled Shiro to speak.

"We are the Paladins of Voltron, sent here by Ulaz."

Ticks passed by in silence until the same female voice spoke again.

"Three may enter. Come unarmed." And the frequency closed.

"Why would they insist we come unarmed? Shiro this doesn't feel right." Allura said.

"Something is amiss here, is not that I did not trust Ulaz word but, I'm with Allura." I said crossing my arms and scrunching my eyebrows in worry.

"We've come too far to turn back now." Shiro responded.

"They just sent us a route to the base, but we'll have to move quickly. Because of the solar flares, its only open for another varga, then it'll be closed for two quintants." Coran said putting the route on the screen.

"They're gonna close if for two years?" Hunk asked shocked.

"Two days." Pidge explained which Hunk quickly replied with an "oh" but still looked a bit confused.

"So, any thoughts on who's gonna join on this little mission? I'm thinking things might get a little hot, so you're going to want someone who can stay cool." Lance said with a smirk pointing at himself with his thumb. Keith glared at him clearly annoyed by Lance's cockiness.

"You're right, Keith, you're coming with me." Shiro said shocking Lance.

"But Keith's a hothead!" Lance retaliated. "He's probably gonna shoot first then ask questions later!"

Lance glared back at Keith, both trying to burn a hole in each other's heads.

"And there not going to be able to answer him because they've be dead!" Lance exclaimed getting in Shiro's personal space.

Shiro furrowed his eyebrows and pushed him back.

"We haven't yet severed Zarkon's link with the Black Lion, so it has to stay here." Shiro stated crossing his arms. "And the Red Lion can withstand the heat from that sun. So yes, it be Keith. Taylin you'll be coming along too, we will require your assistance." He added.

"What kind of assistance?" I asked bit surprised that Shiro wanted me to come along.

"They want us to come unarmed, you will easily be able to determine their intentions. Your powers will give us an advantage over them." Shiro responded.

I nodded in understanding, "I'm as close to a weapon as anyone can get." I said with a slight smile. If they attacked us, they were going to find out what an angry Drakie looks like.

"The course to the base will be quite treacherous to say the least. You're walking a razor's edge between the gravitational pull of two black holes and the sun. One false move and you'll either be crushed into infinity or burnt to a crisp." Coran said.

"Thanks for the support Coran" I said sarcastically while patting his shoulder. "Have a little faith, we'll be fine."

He looked worried but gave me a small smile. After our farewells, we made our way to the Red Lion's hangar already in our Paladin armor. Keith took his place on his seat while Shiro and I stood behind him. Keith moved The Red Lion into position and began to approach the menacing black holes. No one said a word, I could feel tension radiating from Keith's body as we got closer. I turned to look at Shiro, he had noticed Keith's tension as well.

I leaned a bit forward, "Keith, I don't mean to intrude, but is something the matter?" I asked.

"I'm fine." Keith responded tense and kept looking straight ahead.

"You kind of blew up at everybody back there. You'll have to control your emotions if you're going to lead this group someday." Shiro said.

I quickly turned to look at Shiro, I did not understand what he was talking about, was he planning on leaving us? Keith looked nervous and chuckled a bit looking up at Shiro.

"Lead the group?" Keith asked slightly smiling.

"When we were stranded I told you, if anything were to happen to me, I want you to lead Voltron." Shiro said calmly.

"I thought you were just delirious with pain, why would you make me the leader?" Keith asked.

"Because I know what you're capable of if you can learn some self-discipline."

"Why are we even talking about this? Nothing is going to happen to you." Keith said annoyed, but his voice also contained a tint of worry.

"It's just in case." Shiro responded placing a hand on Keith's shoulder. I decided to just stand back and let them have this private moment since I was still processing what Shiro had said earlier.

"I need you to get focused. When you and Allura ran off, it put us all in jeopardy. If you're going to be a leader, you've got to get your head on straight." Shiro added.

"I'm sorry…just had a lot on my head..." Keith trailed off under his breath.

"Don't talk like that." I finally said.

Shiro turned to look at me remembering that I was here.

"I won't let anything happen to you." I touched his shoulder and looked at him straight in the eyes. "I would fight a whole fleet of Galra if it meant keeping you safe beside me."

He smiled and cupped my chin lightly, "I know you would, because so would I."

It warmed my heart that he felt the same way as me. I would never let anything happen to him, he was a vital part of my life, I needed him to keep on living. Suddenly the Red Lion shook violently, I grabbed ahold of Keith's seat. It seemed that one of the black holes was pulling us in.

"Get us out of here!" Shiro ordered.

Keith pulled on his handles and activated Red's boosters moving us away from the black holes gravitational pull. He quickly moved us back on course. We lead out a breath of relief.

"I'm so glad you're an excellent pilot." I said smiling down at him. Keith smiled back, he returned his gaze to the screen when an asteroid came into view. He landed the lion safely on the surface and we made our way toward the exit. The Red Lion let us out through its jaws and went back to a standing position. Everything seemed quiet, nothing but the asteroid's surface was visible. I reached out with my mind trying to find something living when I touched someone's mind lightly. It was faint, but it was a mind never the less, The Blade of Marmora was here.

"There's nothing here, this place just looks like a plain asteroid." Keith said looking around.

"There here, I can sense them." I said, when suddenly a platform opened on the surface of the asteroid and two Blade of Marmorans rose on a platform wearing a similar attire to Ulaz. We stayed in place for a few ticks until Keith began to move toward them, we followed behind him still hesitant. We boarded the platform and it began to move inward until it stopped, and two doors opened. On each side of the hallway stood Blade of Marmorans at attention. At the end of the walkway stood a Marmoran, with a slight difference in his attire, his hands behind his back. Behind him, the symbol of The Blade of Marmora glowed purple, two solider stood on each of his sides.

When we reached the end of the walkway he spoke, "I am Kolivan, leader of the Blade of Marmora."

"My name is Shiro. This is Keith and Taylin, we're Paladins of Voltron."

"I know who you are." Kolivan said.

"Then you would know we were sent by one of your own." Shiro stated.

"Ulaz was a fool to divulge this location to you." Kolivan responded, "He had a penchant for ignoring orders and following his impulses, that's what got him killed." He finished clearly feeling nothing for the loss of one of his soldiers.

"He gave his life to save us. What he did, brought us here today and Voltron is ready to assist you. Are we welcomed here or not?" Shiro asked as he glared at Kolivan.

It was hard to read his emotions since he kept his mask on, I could not even tell who he was looking at. His aura was too calm, he had clearly been trained to keep his emotions in check making it harder for me to read him.

"You were told to come unarmed." Kolivan stated in a menacing tone.

"You also told us to identify ourselves. The lions are about as close as we come to an ID." Keith growled. He looked ready to pounce on Kolivan at any given moment, I moved closer to him to hold him back if it came to that.

"The lion was the only way we could reach your base safely without getting sucked in into one of the black holes or getting burned by the star. We assure you that the lion will cause you no harm. We can be allies and end Zarkon reign once and for good…trust me if we wanted to harm you, we would have done so already." I said calmly trying to cool down the tension.

"I'm sure you would, Queen Fireheart." Kolivan responded.

Shiro had not said anything about me being a queen but somehow, he knew. No surprise there, the news of my presence had spread like a wild fire. The return of the Drakie queen with no planet to rule, I wanted no pity.

"But I was not referring to your beast." He added which confused me.

Suddenly someone pushed me, Shiro quickly caught me before I hit the floor setting me down on my feet gently. One Blade of Marmoran has taken hold of Keith and held his arms behind his back painfully. They had him in a kneeling position before Kolivan. Shiro tried to help him but one of the Marmorans blocked his path. The one holding Keith began to search his Paladin armor until he pulled out a knife and removed the cloth wrapped around its handle displaying The Blade of Marmora insignia.

"He has one of our blades." The solider said, "Who did you steal it from?" He asked Keith pulling at his arm.

"I didn't steal it! I've had it all my life!" Keith retaliated trying to look back at his oppressor.

"Lies!" The Marmoran shouted and pushed Keith further into the ground.

"Can you corroborate your friend's statement?" Kolivan asked us gaining our attention, "Does this blade truly belong to him?"

"I…I don't know…" Shiro murmured unsure if the blade belonged to Keith.

"That blade does indeed belong to him." I said and Kolivan moved his head slightly toward my direction, "I had seen it on him since the day we met…but I cannot say where it came from."

"Shiro, Taylin. You guys know me. I promise you I didn't steal it, I've had this knife as long as I can remember." Keith said looking at us with pleading eyes.

I knew he was telling the truth, I would know if he was lying to me. Even though Keith seemed like a mysterious person, I trusted him as a fellow Paladin. Being the Paladin of The White Lion has connected me to the others in ways I'm still learning.

"We can't trust them." The Marmoran growled.

"I'm telling the truth! I saw Ulaz had a knife like this. Tell me what it means." Keith said looking up at Kolivan.

"Our organization is built on secrecy and trust. You three should leave. Now." Kolivan ordered.

The Marmoran let go of Keith and we moved to help him stand up.

"We came here to form an alliance, but obviously we are not welcomed here. Let's go." Shiro said firmly. He grabbed a hold of my arm and began to pull me away from Kolivan. We had almost got sucked into a black hole coming here only for The Blade of Marmora to turn their back on us. If we were to defeat Zarkon, we would need all the help we could get. If Ulaz was telling the truth, they know more about Zarkon's ranks than anyone in the universe. I pulled my arm free from Shiro's grip and stomped over to stand in front of Kolivan.

"We are not leaving." I glared at Kolivan with his expressionless mask.

"How their you speak to our leader like that." The Marmoran who held Keith down growled.

He came rushing over to me, to put me down, but I used my power holding him in place with an invisible force. I lifted him up in the air holding him so tightly, he could not move any of his appendages.

"Touch me, I dare you." I growled menacingly.

"Stand down." Kolivan ordered to the other Marmorans who began to surround me.

They retreated, and I let go of the invisible force field, dropping the solider on the ground.

"Millions of lives are at stake because you refuse our help. The only way you are going to be able to take down Zarkon is with Voltron's help. You know better than anyone Zarkon's tactics, but you lack the fire power to ignite a real revolution. You have stood and watched for ten-thousand years, letting countless planets suffer and be destroyed. My own planet was destroyed by Zarkon. What is it going to take for you to rise up and finish that tyrant once and for all!" I growled angrily at Kolivan.

"I'm not leaving ether, not without some answers. Somehow one of your knifes ended up with me on planet Earth. Tell me how." Keith demanded coming to stand next to me.

"I suggest you two listen to your friend and leave." Kolivan said unmoved by my speech.

Keith became angrier and took a step forward.

"Where did it come from?! I have to know." He demanded again.

"You seek knowledge? There is only one way to attain knowledge here." Kolivan responded.

"How?! I'll do it!" Keith exclaimed with hope.

"The trials of Marmora. Should you survive, you may keep the blade and its secrets within it will be revealed." Kolivan explained.

"Survive?!" Shiro stated shocked. He grabbed ahold of Keith's shoulders and turned him to face him. "Keith, this is crazy. If they're not going to help us, let's get out of here."

"I'm not going anywhere. I have to do this." Keith responded.

I grabbed Shiro by the arm and pulled him to my side.

"If this is what you want, we will be here for you." I said.

Shiro gave me a bewildered look and I squeezed his arm.

 _"If anything happens to him, I will get him out…trust me."_ I told him through thought.

Shiro sighed, "Alright."

"Antok, give the boy the blade." Kolivan ordered.

The Marmoran complied and returned Keith's blade to him but when Keith grabbed the handle he refused to let it go.

"We will meet again." Antok threaten.

"Can't wait." Keith responded surprisingly calm.

"These trials are one of two things. Knowledge or death." And he released the blade.

Keith was removed from the main hallway and Kolivan brought us to a room with two screens displaying Keith in an arena wearing a similar attire to the Marmoran soldiers, minus the mask. He had his blade tightly gripped in his hand scanning the room. We stood watching him, waiting to see what would await him in these trials. A hatch opened on the floor and a Marmoran solider rouse on a platform.

"Surrender the blade. You cannot win." The soldier ordered and pulled out his sword ready to fight. Keith said nothing and charged at him, but the Marmoran was faster and more agile, dodging Keith's attack and hitting him on the shoulder with his blade. Keith's armor had protected him from the impact and seemed to have cause minimal damage. Keith went in for another attack but once again the soldier dodged, the Marmoran twisted his arm behind his back and brought his sword inches away from his neck.

"Surrender the blade and the pain will cease." He threatened again.

Keith breathed heavily trying to catch his breath.

"I won't stop." Keith grunted.

"Then pain continues." The soldier let him go and stepped aside to reveal a door behind him.

"You are not meant to go through the door." He warned but Keith ignored him and ran to it.

When he exited he found himself in a very similar room and the hatches opened, two Marmorans rouse from the ground unsheathing their swords. Keith growled and the three began to fight. It seemed to me like an unfair match, two against one, more skilled than Keith. Keith did not give up and kept on fighting, rising up when he was brought down. The two Marmorans spoke in unison, "You are not meant to go through the door." But Keith did it anyways. He found himself once again in a similar room, each time he went through the door the number of soldier would increase by one and each time they would say the same thing. I was beginning to wonder when the fighting would stop.

"This doesn't seem fair, where is the honor in this?" I asked outraged.

"The Galra show no honor in battle, but we must face them anyways." Kolivan responded coolly.

Keith now fought with seven soldiers, his strength seemed to be failing him.

"How long does this go on ?!" Shiro expressed worriedly.

"Sometimes the greatest challenge is knowing when to stop." Kolivan answered.

"He'll never stop." Shiro said eyeing Kolivan.

"One way or another this will end. Knowledge, or death."

We glanced at each other both worried for Keith's well-being. I took his hand and Inter-winded our fingers and looked at the screen once again.

"I hope he stops soon." I whispered under my breath.

Keith kept on fighting, he looked more tired with every battle. It was an endless cycle of stepping through the door and fighting an ever-increasing amount of Marmoran soldiers. He was about to confront another wave of soldiers; he looked battered holding his arm in exhaustion. Keith suddenly threw his knife with force onto one of the closing platforms managing to keep it open. He rushed passed the soldiers, grabbed the blade, and jumped through the opening before it closed.

"He made it." I whispered in relief.

Kolivan continued to look at the screens never faltering from them. Keith walked into an empty chamber where he doubled over on his knees in exhaustion.

"Guess I really wasn't supposed to go through that door." He muttered

He began to limp toward the chamber's exit slowly, but his body became too heavy to move, he fell on the ground with a groan. When he opened his eyes, suddenly Shiro appeared. I had to squeeze Shiro hands to makes sure he was still by my side and sure enough he was there returning the gesture.

"Hey man. You did it." The figment of Shiro said.

Keith let out sigh of relief when Shiro extended a hand toward him helping him get back on his feet.

"Kolivan told me you lasted longer than anyone has here. You don't have to keep this up." Keith looked confused at Shiro.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"Just give them the knife and let's get out of here." Shiro said with a smile.

"I…I can't give it to them Shiro." Keith responded tiredly.

"How are you creating this illusion?" I asked Kolivan.

"His suit has the ability to create a virtual minds-cape, reflecting its wearer's greatest hopes and fears." Kolivan explained not looking away from the screen.

"At this moment, your friend desperately wants to see you." Kolivan turned to look at Shiro.

"What is it with you and that thing?" Fake Shiro asked with disgust.

"It's the only connection I have to my past. It's my chance to learn who I really am." Keith responded looking down at the knife in his hand.

"You know exactly who you are, a Paladin of Voltron. We're all the family you need." Shiro retaliated, Keith sighed.

"Shiro…you're like a brother to me, but I have to do this."

"No, you don't. So, you give them the knife." Shiro ordered.

"I can't do that!" He refused.

"Just give up the knife! You're only thinking of yourself as usual." Shiro shouted at him, Keith's eyes widen and looked down trying to avoid his gaze.

"Then you've chosen to be alone." Shiro said and turned to leave.

Keith looked up quickly and began to run after Shiro but as he got closer the scenery changed and he found himself inside an old room which suddenly jerked.

 _"Keith" A man called before he was able to twist the door knob. The man's voice froze him in place and he spun around with wide eyes when he saw the person standing before him._

 _"You're home son." The man said with a smile._

 _The room shook again, "What going on outside?" Keith asked and went to the window covered by a curtain._

 _"Don't worry about it. We'll be fine as long as we stay here. Don't you want to catch up?" He asked._

 _"Of course, I do…" Keith trailed off looking at his father with longing._

 _The room shook once again making Keith turn to the window._

 _"What is that?" Keith asked._

 _He ignored his father's warning and went to remove the curtain from the window to see. Outside Galra forces were coming dangerously close, marching in unison. The sun shined upon their silver armor, Zarkon's main ship hovered above the ground as it shot a laser onto the earth. On a cliff stood the Red Lion watching over the canyon, waiting for its pilot to fight back._

 _"Dad I'm sorry! I gotta go! There's people that need me out there!" Keith stated in urgency._

 _"Don't you wanna know about where you came from?" His father asked holding Keith's knife in his hand. "Your mother gave it to me." Keith's eyes widen in realization. "She'll be here soon." He assured._

I opened my eyes to see Keith on the ground shaking ever so often in pain. I had intruded in his mind to see what the simulator was showing him. It was playing with his emotions, with things and people he loved the most. No one had the right to mess with anyone's memories or play with once greatest fears. That is what The Blade of Marmora was doing to him, they were showing him the dearest things to him but at the same time showing him nothing. These trials had not revealed a single clue to where he came from, except that perhaps Keith might be part Galra, but I did not know that for sure.

"I have seen what they are showing him, it is not right to temper with anyone in that manner." I said to Kolivan with a growl.

"He can decide when he wants to leave." He answered. "Knowledge or death Fireheart." He said coldly.

"I'm calling this off." Shiro said as he let go off my hand and stomped to the exit but two Marmoran soldiers blocked his path.

I have had enough of this atrocity, I extended my mind out until I touched the Red Lion. _"Brisinhart, protect you Paladin!"_ I ordered using his true name.

I felt him come to life and give a load roar. The base began to shake and rumble. A soldier ran into the room, "The Red Lion is attacking the base! It's trying to break through!"

"It has a link with Keith! It knows when he's in danger! It's coming for him!" Shiro stated as he was held back by some Marmoran soldiers. A chunk of the sealing fell before our feet giving Shiro a chance to break free the Marmoran's grip. I followed his lead and kicked a Galra to the side running after Shiro into the corridor. We needed to find Keith in time to calm the Red Lion, it would not rest until he felt he was safe.

We reached the room where Keith was on the floor, he was starting to wake up slowly. We ran to his side worried for his health, he looked strained and broken.

"Keith! Are you ok?!" Shiro asked urgently.

Both of us grabbed ahold of one of Keith's arms and slowly helped him to his feet. We looked up when several footsteps were heard from the corridor. Soldiers surrounded us in an instant along with Kolivan and Antok.

"Stop what you're doing!" Kolivan demanded.

"What are you talking about? What's going on?" Keith asked confused in a weak voice.

Shiro brought Keith closer to me and took a stance in front of us, his readied his prosthetic hand for battle.

"Move out of the way! We're leaving!" Shiro stated angrily.

"You're not leaving with that blade!" One of the soldiers exclaimed, "It does not belong to you. You have failed to awaken it."

"What is with you people and that blade?!" I exclaimed back grabbing ahold of Keith's upper arm ready to defend him if it came to a fight.

Keith's expression reflected pain, just then Shiro ran forward, going in for an attack. Several of the soldiers over powered him and managed to push him back.

"Wait! Just take the knife!" Keith exclaimed.

He pushed off from me slowly and managed to stand on his own, he held out the blade toward the Marmorans ready to give it up.

"It doesn't matter where I came from. I know who I am. We all need to work together if we want to stop Zarkon. It if means I give up my knife, then take it." Just when Keith finished speaking, the blade glowed a bright purple bathing everyone in its light. When the glow finally died down, Keith no longer held a blade in his hand, it was a magnificent sword.

"You've awoken the blade!" Kolivan stated shocked.

Keith looked at the sword in awe, his hard work and perseverance paid off. He had proven to The Blade of Marmora that he was worthy of wielding it.

"The only way this is possible, is if Galra blood runs through your veins." Kolivan added.

Now I was positive of Keith's lineage, he was indeed half Galra but that did not matter to me. To me, he was a fellow Paladin and a strong warrior.

We were now back on The Red Lion with Kolivan and Antok heading back to the castle. When we arrived, everyone was already in the hangar awaiting our return with anxiety.

"Gosh, you really had us worried there." Pidge said when we exited the Red Lion.

She, Hunk, and Lance rushed to meet us halfway.

"Yeah, when we saw the signal that the Red Lion was attacking, we thought something bad happened." Hunk commented.

 _Something bad did happen._ I thought.

 _"Are you alright?"_ Storm asked worried.

 _"I'm fine Storm, I'll explain later."_ To the others, I did not motion that. "We are all fine." I assured.

Kolivan and Antok came forward, Allura looked annoyed with their presence.

Kolivan's mask vanished and he pulled his hood down allowing us to see him for the first time. His face had many scars, he clearly had lived through many battles.

"Princess Allura. It's good to see that the rumors are true. You're still alive after all these years." Kolivan said as he knelt down on one knee before her.

"So is Zarkon. Can we consider you our ally in the fight against him?" Allura asked still skeptical.

"Yes, but we have little time to discuss this. In other matters" he turned towards me, "I would like to apologize to you Queen Fireheart for the way we treated you when you arrived. I am glad to have such a powerful ally to fight beside against our common enemy." He finished with a bow of his head.

"Your apology is accepted Kolivan, I am also glad that you have decided to join us in this fight."

Kolivan returned to look at the others, "I've just received word from our spy inside the Galra hierarchy that they have become aware of their presence. So, the timetable for our plan have been moved up."

"I understand the urgency of executing and attack on Zarkon, but I have other matters that require my imitate attention. Trinder needs our help, we cannot leave these people to die under the cruelty of the Galra." I reminded.

Lanex stood next to Coran, he looked at the ground in sadness, I could imagine what he was thinking about.

"I guess we better start coming up with a plan now." Coran suggested.

"Wait." Keith stopped everyone from moving.

"There's…something I have to say." He looked at Shiro searching for assurance at what he was about to say. Shiro nodded his head and I gave him a slight smile reassuring him to continue. "I've found out…I'm part Galra."

Everyone looked shocked and Allura's expression changed to that of betrayal. I understood she hated the Galra but with Keith it was different.

"Keith no matter what you are, you are part of this team." I assured him with a smile and he exhaled in relief.

"Queen Fireheart, forgive my forwardness but I believe planning an attack on Zarkon is more vital at the moment than going on a suicide mission to save a frozen planet." Kolivan stated making my smile vanish as I looked at him.

Lanex looked worried that I would back down on my promise to help him save his people, but I am not one to break promises.

"I'm sorry Kolivan, but I'm carrying out this mission with or without Voltron or The Blade of Marmora."

This day Trinder would be free, it was a risk I was willing to take.

Thanks for Reading!

Also thanks to does who commented, greatly appreciate your feedback.

If you have not watched the new trailer for season 5, you should go watch it. We are in for an intense season.

Till next time!


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

 **Promises, Promises**

We found ourselves in the control room debating on our next course of action. The Marmorans still refused to assist Trinder, Lanex was growing more impatient by the tick. He stood next to me, watching the others with his arms crossed inhaling deeply once in a while. Everyone had agreed that fighting Zarkon's entire army was suicide, instead we would construct a giant teludav to transport his forces to a faraway galaxy giving us sometime to create an army of our own.

Lanex finally had enough, "My people can help in the construction of the teludav."

"What can your people offer that will aid us?" Kolivan asked.

Lanex looked around a bit nervous since everyone's attention was on him, he cleared his throat and answered. "Trinder is not only just a frozen planet, but it is the source of one of the strongest metals in this galaxy."

"What type of metal is it?" I asked intrigued.

"It's called, Amorite. It capable of absorbing strong impacts and also conducts electricity fairly well." Lanex answered turning his gaze away from the others to me.

"How come we never heard of this metal till now?" Antok asked in distrust.

"We have managed to keep it a secret from the Galra Empire for many decades. Our planet's frozen tundra has helped us since we can pass as a planet with little to no resource."

"This Amorite can prove very useful in reinforcing the teludav." Coran stated pulling at his mustache in thought.

Suddenly someone gasped loudly, "W-what! What I miss?" Hunk asked panicked.

He had managed to sleep through our entire meeting.

"Oh, nothing important. We've just figured out a way to defeat Zarkon." Lance answered with a smirk.

"Really? I dozed off for ten minutes and you already came up with a plan to defeat the forces of evil?" Hunk asked really unbelieving.

"You've been asleep for three hours." Pidge stated.

Her comment made Hunk blush in embarrassment and look away.

"I think we've got something here." Shiro said examining the hologram of Zarkon's ship. "It's dangerous and there's a lot of moving parts, but if we can coordinate everything just right- "

"Zarkon's reign will come to an end, and the savagery that's poison our universe can finally be cleansed." Kolivan finished, he turned to look at Shiro, "You've done it Shiro."

"We did it together." Shiro corrected, he extended out his hand toward him. Kolivan examined the gesture for a few ticks until he finally accepted the greeting by grabbing his hand and shaking it.

"As long as we stick to the plan, it should work." Allura said in a monotone voice, something she been doing since the Marmorans came onboard.

"It will work. Perhaps then you will see that not all Galra are as bad as Zarkon." Kolivan stated with the same tone of voice.

Allura simply ignored his comment and turned to glare at Keith who stood looking at the hologram with his arms crossed. Since Keith's revelation, I have sensed her indifference toward him with a tint of anger and betrayal. She had distanced herself from him and began to treat him like a total stranger. It was not only her, the other Paladins have become more reserved toward him as well, I on the other hand understood him even more. The trip to The Blade of Marmora and witnessing the Marmoran trials have given me a new perspective of him. I had even come to the point of admiring him. It must have not been easy growing up with so many questions of who he was. Everyone deserved a second chance, Shiro seemed to think so as well.

"So, what's the plan?" Hunk asked.

"The plan is amazing!" Lance exclaimed running up to the hologram with a wide grin.

"First, we infect Zarkon's ship with a virus. Then we make an extra-large wormhole and lure Zarkon inside of it, zapping him a bijillion light years away!" He began to move around the room excitedly, he grabbed the screen with Zarkon's ship and dragged it to the side. "Then when he pops out on the other side, all like, 'Oh why isn't my ship working?', Voltron kicks butt!" He imitated Zarkon's voice in a very girly way and began to mimic Voltron making sound effects and pretending to fight.

Lanex scooted closer to me, "Should we be worried about him?" He whispered.

"No, that's just typical Lance." I answered crossing my arms, Lanex continued to stare at Lance as if he had grown another head.

"Whoa, so this is really it?" Hunk said lowly.

Everyone in the room became silent processing the chain of events that would occur soon. Everything that we had been fighting for has lead us to this very moment. There was no going back, Zarkon was finally going to be defeated. All those planets destroyed and the innocent people who lost their lives, would finally get justice.

"I guess the only questions is, when do we strike?" Pidge asked breaking the silence.

"As soon as we make the teludav big enough to wrap Zarkon's ship." Coran answered, he waved his hand in the air brining up another screen.

"We will require a lot more scaultrite." I said rubbing my temple.

"That's just one of the many things we'll need." Allura commented.

"Am I sensing another trip to the space mall here?" Hunk asked raising his eyebrows with a hopeful smile.

"No" I chuckled, "We will require much more than what we can find at the mall."

"Taylin is correct, this is going to take a lot more scaultrite than we can find in any Unilu shop. For this plan to succeed, we're going to need to split up. We all have a task to do." Coran added looking up from his screen.

We were split into groups, each having their own mission to gather the materials for the teludav. Hunk and Keith were to head into a belly of a Weblum to gather scaultrite. Shiro, Lance, and Pidge were going to get an alien named Slav out of a Galra prison, he was the same one who designed the space pocket for The Blade of Marmora. Allura was to head back to the Balmera to retrieve a big enough crystal to power the giant teludav, while Coran would head to Olkarion to begin the construction. I was headed to Trinder with Lanex and Storm to free the Trinderians and retrieve some of the Amorite, much to Shiro's discomfort.

We headed into the Yellow Lion's hangar to say farewell to each other before we each went on our individual missions. I stood back as Shiro gave a brotherly hug to Keith, he reassured him that everything would turn out fine. Hunk and Pidge shook hands, their goodbye brought tears to their eyes since they were close friends. Shiro let go of Keith and I quickly ran up to them, before Keith could protest, I embraced him tightly. I felt him tense up and awkwardly return to hug.

"I want you to know that for me, you are still the same Keith even before I knew your origins." I whispered into his ear. He tightened his hold on me in gratitude and we pulled apart.

"Good luck." I said smiling, Shiro nodded his head at him with a smile as well.

I watched him go and knew deep in my heart, I had made a new friend.

I turned to look at Shiro, "I must be going too. The more I wait, the more time I give the Galra to prepare for us."

Shiro placed a hand on each of my shoulders and looked straight into my eyes. "I want you to be careful, don't do anything rash."

"Don't worry about me, I won't be alone, I have Storm with me. He always has my back." I assured him and placed a hand on his cheek.

He leaned into my touch and took hold of my hand still looking into my eyes lovingly. I felt like he could see right through me, like there were no barriers to keep him out. I was an open book to him and my soul yearned for him. He leaned down to connect him lips to mine. I pressed my body closer not wanting any space between us, pressing my lips harder onto his. I wanted to savor this moment with him as I did not know how long we would be apart.

We finally had to pull apart for air.

"Take care of yourself, a piece of my heart goes with you." I said giving him a quick peck on the lips before pulling apart.

"I'll see you soon." He said and pressed a kiss to my forehead before walking into the direction of the Blue Lion's hangar.

Storm and Lanex stood by the entrance waiting for me.

"Let's go, we have a lot of work to do."

Storm nodded, and we began to make our way to the White Lion's hangar. When we entered, Lanex gasped and looked at Nimawe in awe.

"This is your lion?" He asked, his eyes sparkled with excitement. "Its…it's amazing."

The White Lion sat on her hind legs majestically as always. It had been sometime since I piloted her, I felt a pang of guilt for not visiting her sooner.

"You should see the Black Lion, it's even bigger than mine." I said to Lanex, his expression changed, and he formed an "O" shaped with his mouth.

As we neared, the White Lion felt my presence and her eyes lit up giving a low growl as a greeting. She lowered her head until it was inches above the ground and opened her jaws lowering a ramp welcoming us in.

I took my spot in my seat, as soon as I touched my lion's handles she stood up ready to take flight. The screen automatically plotted a course to the hangar's exit. Soon we were engulfed in the darkness of space with the castle to our backs.

"White Paladin standing by."

"Opening wormhole, good luck Taylin." Allura spoke into the comm.

The familiar blue vortex opened, and I moved us into position. Lanex held on to my seat and leaned forward looking at the bright colors inside the tunnel. It was not long before we came out of the wormhole and in front of us stood Trinder. Whirls of grey and white traveled across the planet. I stopped moving forward until we were caught in its orbit and left us to float slowly.

"Is there a safe place to land? Some place where the Galra will not spot us?"

"We could land where my father had hidden the space ship I escaped in." Lanex pointed at an area of the glob not too far from our current location. "It's in between two mountains, we could land safely there and come up with a plan without interruptions. The only problem is, it's always snowing in that area making visibility almost to nothing."

"That won't be a problem, I can create a path for us inside the snow storm small enough to let us through and still be covered by it to avoid detection." I plugged in the coordinates to the mountain range and move to enter the atmosphere. Immediately strong winds beat us causing turbulence inside the cabin. Lanex held on to my seat for dear life while Storm dug his talons into the floor.

"Hold on tight boys, this might get ruff." I muttered.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Lanex grunted. Storm simply growled in response.

I concentrated and fed wind element energy into White, she took it without hesitation. I pushed my right lever forward causing White to open her jaws and shoot out a wind tunnel straight down. The winds inside the tunnel ceased, "time to go down."

We shot down faster than a laser cannon, after a few ticks the white ground came into view. A warning popped up on my screen advising to pull up as the ground was coming closer with every tick. I pulled up just before hitting the ground and landed White behind a big rock formation, hiding us from sight. The White Lion's exterior paint helped camouflage her into our surroundings, only her wings stood out, but soon they too would be white as the snow.

Lanex breathed heavily beside me and held his chest as if his heart would leave him.

"Are you ok?" I asked amused.

"Yeah." He said taking a deep breath trying to calm himself, "but I don't think I want to be doing that anytime soon."

"Let's hope not." I finished and patted his shoulder.

Turning back to my screen, I pulled up a map of Trinder trying to locate Lanex's village in the mountain range. "Flying over the mountains will surely get us spotted. As soon as we leave the clouds, they will begin to shoot us. There must be a way to sneak past them and take them down from the inside."

"There is a tunnel not far from here that will lead us close to the entrance of my village. These networks of tunnels run throughout the mountain ranges. It's what allows us to move freely from one place to another without having to trek through the snow." Lanex said finally getting his breathing back to normal.

"Do you know if the Galra know of these tunnels?"

"They might, but I'm not quite sure." He said pondering.

"Well, it's a risk we're going to have to take. It the fastest route through the mountains. It either that or get shot at the moment they spot White."

I typed into my control panel and found a way to scan the tunnels, in less than thirty ticks we had a whole map of the mountain range passageways. I transferred that to my left wrist communicator, a smaller version of the map was projected from it.

"Amazing, now we have a map of all the tunnels." Lanex commented with a grin.

 _"Now it's your turn to guide us through to tunnels. It looks like a labyrinth, we could easily get lost."_ Storm spoke to Lanex.

I stood up from my seat and headed for the back exit that would lower us down through White's chest. Once everyone was onboard, the doors to the cockpit closed and a platform lowered us down to the snow below. The cold embraced us in an instant threatening our core temperatures. Everything around us was covered in a blanket of fluffy white snow that kept pouring from the sky. Thankfully, the storm had lowered its intensity, allowing us to see in front of our faces.

"Come on, this way." Lanex stepped off the platform and waved at us to follow him.

Storm looked at me from the side for a brief moment before stepping off, I followed behind him. The platform returned to White's chest and her white sphere barrier activated.

We trekked through the snow with a bit of difficulty since in some places our foots would sink so low that the snow would reach our waists. Storm would aid us by grabbing us from our collars with the tip of his talon and lifting us up from the snow.

 _"I really hate the snow, it makes my smaller scales shirk with cold."_ Storm complained.

 _"It's just frozen water."_ I retorted amused.

 _"I know, but it not the same. I don't know how someone could live here all their life without ever going for a swim under the rays of the sun or run in the pouring rain of a tropical storm."_ He said with longing.

 _"I remember when we use to do that. That's one of the reason why I named you Storm."_ I said nostalgically.

"Here is the entrance." Lanex stated breaking our silent conversation.

I came to a stop next to him at the mouth of the tunnel, it was pitch dark inside. It seemed that anything what went in, would never be able to find its way out through the darkness.

"Lanex, I need you to listen to me very carefully." He turned to look at me, "This mission requires stealth and skill, I need you to follow my orders without hesitation. Any false move might result in capture or death, putting our mission at risk. Follow my lead and stay close to me, do you understand?"

He nodded his head with determination.

"Alright, then let's proceed."

We walked in to the dark cold tunnel and I manifested a small ball of energy that floated above us illuminating our path. We could now see a few feet in front of us. I could have illuminated a big chunk of the tunnel but instead kept the light's radius short to avoid someone noticing it from afar. I pressed a button on my wrist communicator and the map of the tunnels projected from it. A small yellow dot marked our current location. The tunnel we currently were in lead us to a fork, two tunnels leading in different directions.

"Lanex, which way?"

"It's the left tunnel, that will lead us to the main passage that leads straight to the village."

I nodded and followed Lanex's instructions. For a while only our breathing and the occasional scrape of Storm's tail could be heard throughout the tunnel.

"Thanks for what you are doing for me." Lanex said breaking the silence.

I looked at him and smiled, "I consider you my friend, and friends help each other."

"I'm honored to be called your friend. I never thought I would meet someone like you."

"It's nice to know there are people still in this universe who can be trusted. We will set your people free, I promise." I said and turned to look at the map. "The intersection to the main tunnel is just up ahead."

I was about to step into the main tunnel when I felt something was off. Someone else was inside it, I extended my right arm to stop Lanex from moving any further. Storm sensed the presence as well and lightly hissed.

"What wrong?" Lanex asked in a whisper.

 _"From this point on, our minds will all be connected to be able to speak to each other. The reason we stopped is because I sense another presence in the tunnels besides us."_

 _"Who is it?"_ He asked with a tint of fear.

 _"I don't know."_

 _"It's a Galra sentry, I can't read its mind. The scent of metal is in the air."_ Storm said.

I took a deep breath and exhaled silently.

 _"I will scout ahead and signal you when is safe to follow."_ I edged toward the wall of the tunnel and peaked behind the corner. Sure enough, there were two sentries standing further down the tunnel with laser riffles in their hands. Their visors glowed red in the darkness, they stood facing toward our location. _"This complicates things."_

 _"What do you see?"_ Storm asked.

 _"There are two Galra sentries guarding the tunnel, they are facing this way."_

 _"What are we going to do? Surely they will notice us the moment we step out."_ Lanex stated.

I looked above and saw the dim ball of energy. _"I have an idea."_

 _"What's your plan?"_ Storm asked lowering his head to my eye level.

 _"You'll see."_

I summoned my Bayard and with my thoughts ordered it to become a bow. I grasped it tightly in my right hand and lightly pulled at its string with my left. For what I was about to do I needed to be fast to avoid the sentries to radio in for help. I ordered the ball of energy to quickly move into the next tunnel toward them and intensified its light. I stepped out from my hiding spot and shot an arrow into each of the sentries before they knew what was going on. I dimmed to light when I heard their bodies hit the ground with a clang. They both had an arrow through their chest, their appendages stuck out in weird twisted positions.

 _"You can step out now."_ I said waving them over.

 _"You used the light to blind them and shoot them down, smart."_ Lanex complimented.

 _"Do you smell any other sentries ahead Storm?"_

Storm sniffed a couple of times and stuck out his tongue tasting the air.

 _"I don't sense any more through this path."_

 _"Good, then let keep moving."_

We made our way toward the crumbled sentries, Lanex picked up one of the laser guns.

"It's no use, those weapons will only work if your Galra." I said.

"Oh, I didn't know." He said in disappointment.

I sighed, it was a good idea for him to be armed just in case he had to defend himself. I had my Bayard and powers, Storm was capable of defending himself but Lanex had nothing. I drew deep into the pool of my power and in my left hand manifested a dark blue sword decorated by a black hilt. At the top of its hilt, a light blue sapphire in a shape of a tear drop was incrusted, it gave out a soft glow.

"Here, use this." I extended the sword towards him.

"You want me to use this?" He said shocked.

"It's not a good idea for you to be unarmed. This is my sword Tempest, it can slice through anything and it will sense if you are surrounded drawing on the sapphire in its hilt sending out a shockwave of energy."

I motioned with my head for him to take it, he extended his hand carefully and took it into his right hand. He sliced the air in front of him slowly a few times testing out the sword. Lanex let out a chuckle, "Its lighter than I thought."

I began to walk again, "It's made out of a rare metal that existed only on my planet…it was a gift from my father."

Only mentioning him resurfaced the memory of when I was a young girl eager to learn about the world around me. Since I was the only child, he had begun to train me when I was only ten years of age in the art of sword fighting. My mother had objected at first, but he convinced her that it would be a good idea to learn how to defend myself with a weapon rather than rely on my powers for everything. My heart ached for his loss, I never got to say goodbye.

I pushed those feelings aside before I could become more upset and concentrated in the mission ahead. Many people depended on me, I must keep a clear head. As we moved along, the sound of howling wind could be heard in the distance. I checked my map and sure enough we were almost at the end of the tunnel. A white light began to become more visible, coming closer with every step we took. The tunnel's exit was adorned with sharp icicles that hung from the ceiling, they looked like sharp teeth ready to devour their prey. I stopped just at the entrance of the tunnel, close to the wall, to look outside. There stood snow covered structures abandoned by their owners with no one around to warm their insides. Articles of clothing, baskets, and other items I could not make out littered the floor. Some of the houses had burned marks surely made from laser gun fire. The overall scenery looked haunting, only wind whistled through the opened windows and picked up the snow scattering it around.

 _"Lanex, where are they keeping your people prisoners?"_ I asked, linking our minds again.

 _"They are a bit deeper into the forest. The Galra have them in a camp surrounded by sentries where they are forced to do their bidding. Their cruiser hovers to the side not too far from the ground, you can't see it from here, the tall trees block our view."_

The village looked empty, but I decided to check by extending my mind out trying to locate something out of the ordinary, but I found nothing. It was safe to continue on, the only thing that worried me was Storm. His dark blue scales made him stand out from the white scenery.

 _"Storm I'm going to need you to follow us further behind…your scales are impractical in this type of tundra."_

He looked at me, with his neck arched high up almost touching the sealing and narrowed his eyes at me.

 _"What? You know it's true."_

 _"I won't argue because I know this is not the time, but I'll get you back just you wait small one."_ He said Indignantly.

To Lanex I said, _"Let's move."_

I moved out from the cover of the cave with Lanex close beside me. We ran toward the tree line for cover just in case there were Galra ships patrolling the area for runways. We kept on moving down the hill covered by the trees. I abruptly stopped when I hear footsteps in the snow coming from my left, two Galra sentries emerged from behind a tree. They appeared to just be patrolling the area. I signaled Lanex to hide behind the nearest tree as I did the same. We waited until their footsteps died down further into the forest.

 _"We must be getting close if there are patrols in this area."_

 _"Yes, the camp is just a bit further down."_

I nodded and came out from behind the tree to follow the trail down. As we neared, shouting could be heard in the distance. It sounded like someone barking orders. I sensed Storm had begun to move through the forest carefully to avoid making noise.

I peeked through the tree line above us and there was the Galra cruiser hovering high in the sky not too far from our location. We had arrived at our destination. We took cover behind some thick bushes to observe what we were up against. The Trinderians were cutting down the trees at the other end of the forest.

"Work harder you insignificant low lives! This is the only resource your pitiful planet has to offer!" A Galra with a high pitch voice was standing in there with a Galra soldiers at each of his sides. I assumed he was the leader from the insults he spit at the Trinderians. My blood boiled with every offence that came out of his mouth.

 _"How should be proceed?"_ Lanex asked.

 _"We need to be careful, this place is crawling with Galra soldiers and sentries. We need to find a way to take them down all at once, so they are not able to retaliate against your people."_

 _"How do you suppose we do that?"_

 _"By taking down their strongest source of fire power."_ I said looking up at the cruiser with a smirk.

I felt Lanex take hold of my arm returning my gaze to him, _"If there are as many Galra soldier down here, then up there will be much worse!"_

 _"Not precisely. They believe your people pose no threat to them, so they won't be on alert. Most of their solider are down here leaving the cruiser exposed. Giving us the element of surprise. I could infiltrate the cruiser and shut down all sentries."_

 _"Then?"_ He asked anxiously.

 _"I wasn't finished."_ I stated annoyed.

 _"Sorry."_

 _"Then, I will blow up the ship's power core, that will cause a chain reaction bringing down the whole cruiser."_ I finished explaining.

 _"Where does that leave me?"_

 _"The ship will impact below, you will help by leading your people out of this area with the help of Storm."_

 _"You're putting yourself at risk taking down the ship all on your own."_ He said worriedly.

 _"Don't worry about me. Now I need you to concentrate in guiding your people to safety. Your task won't be easy as you most likely will have to confront the Galra."_ I grabbed his hand that held Tempest, _"We each have a role to play, aren't you the son of your people's leader?"_

 _"I... I am."_ He stuttered.

 _"Then lead."_ I said and squeezed his hand in reassurance.

 _"Storm? I'm sure you heard the plan."_ I called out through our connection.

 _"Yes, and I think your insane."_ He said disapproving.

 _"It's not the craziest plan I have ever come up with, it will work."_

 _"I'm sure it will work…just promise me you will be careful."_ He pleaded. Through our connection there was a slight feeling of fear and loss, but he hid it from me quickly.

 _"I will, now let's get moving. Lanex, Storm will be waiting for you near the edge of the forest closes to the prisoners."_

He nodded and we both headed into opposite directions. I readied by Bayard by forming it into a sword. I held the hilt backwards; the body of the sword touched the back of my arm. I moved cautiously from tree to tree avoiding getting spotted by sentries and Galra soldiers that patrolled the area. Each step brought me closer to the Galra cruiser hovering above us, I needed to find a way to get aboard but still maintain my presence unknown. I had finally arrived at the edge of the clearing, the closes I could get without being discovered.

 _"Come on Taylin, think. I need a distraction so that I can fly up there."_

 _"We will provide the distraction."_ Storm spoke.

 _"That's too risky."_ I hissed back worried they would blow their cover too soon, but Storm had read my thoughts and explained his plan.

 _"There are some loose rocks close to the mountain."_ He send my an image of what he was seeing. _"If I move them, that will cause an avalanche to come down straight into the clearing. Many of the Galra soldiers would be buried in the snow wiping out the majority of our enemies and giving you the opportunity to sneak aboard their ship."_

 _"What about the prisoners?"_

 _"They are beyond the trail of the avalanche since they have cut most of the trees to the left of the clearing."_ Lanex answered.

 _"Alright, sounds like a good plan. Proceed."_

I took a hunched running stance, ready for when Storm brought down the mountain of snow over the Galra. I ordered my Bayard to disappear back into my armor to allow me more agility to move. My back tingled as my wings were ready to manifest at any moment. Suddenly a loud rumbled was heard through the valley and the ground shook. The cracking nose of trees reached my ears for a few ticks until it was suddenly gone. Silence ran through the clearing, but a loud rumble broke the silence and the snow began to move down the mountain in full force. The Galra closes to the avalanche began to run frantically in the other direction. I took my opportunity and ran out from my cover. My wings manifested and impulse myself up into the air flapping my wings downward with force.

"I hope the others are doing better than we are."

I moved rapidly through the air, the Galra ship coming closer quickly. My Bayard appear in my hand as a sword, I grabbed it with both my hands and stabbed it on the hull of the ship. My sword's tip disappears into the metal. Transferring the fire element from my hands to the sword, its body lit up on fire and I began cutting a hole. The fire was so intense that it melted the metal away allowing me to finally create an entrance. I kicked it in and jumped into the ship, thankfully there was no one around. Everyone seemed to be busy with what was happening below, they had no way to stop it. I cut the flow of fire to my sword and the fire secede. I ran down the hallway toward the core of the ship encountering a few sentries along the way. I quickly cut them down before they could aim and kept moving toward my goal. I came to a stop in front a door that had the Galra symbol engraved on it, it glowed its usual purple color. The door was protected by a pass code and the hand print scanner was useless to me since I was not Galra, so I opted to open it by force. I stabbed my sword in-between the two doors and pushed against them trying to pry them open.

"This…is…not…. working." I grunted.

So, I began to shift the metal surrounding my sword creating a hole around it, though it I could see the control panel. Taking a step back, I changed my sword into a bow and shot an arrow through the hole toward the control panel, short circuiting it. The panel stopped glowing and smoke rose from its surface. I waved my hand over the doors opening them with ease. I ran in heading pass the control panel to stand before the core, it hummed softly. I pulled on my bow materializing an arrow and aimed at it.

"This is going to light up like the elements festival."

I let go and immediately high tailed it out of there. The arrow hit causing and explosion once its metal touched the core's electrified surface. Small explosions followed after me as an electric shockwave ran throughout the ship. I kept on running toward the entrance I've made when suddenly there was an explosion above me brining down debris on top of my right wing. A wave of pain washed over me causing me to fall to my knees hissing in pain. I tried to move it, but the pain was so unbearable, black spots danced before my eyes.

 _"Taylin! What has happened?!"_ Storm frantically asked in concern.

 _"Something fell in one of my wings…I think…I think its broken."_ I yelp when I tried to move it again.

I began to slide forward as the ship lost altitude when the power outed. The hallway lost its purple glow and the emergency lights turned on. I shook my head side to side trying to clear my vision and made the attempt to stand up. The ship jerked sending me flying towards a wall. Pushing aside my pain, I held on to a railing that my hand touched when I got thrown.

 _"I'm coming! Hold on!"_

I leaned my head on the wall, thoughts of my family began to flash before me. My father when he taught me how to swim, mother with her most beautiful smile, Allura my friend closes to my heart, the first time I flew with Storm, the faces of each of my fellow Paladins who I had grown to love as a family, and Shiro. My Shiro. Who I had loved since the first time I saw him. Every time I laid eyes on him, that love only seemed to grow stronger.

 _"Don't think like that Taylin, I am not letting you go!"_

Storm had seen my memories and through our connection I felt how he flapped his wings with more intensity until suddenly a load crash jerked the ship followed by a terrible noise of something sharp scratching on metal. Bright light blinded me, and something embraced me tightly. When I opened my eyes, above me was the dark blue scales of Storm's neck. He held me tightly in his paw close to his chest as he made his way back to the snowy surface. The Galra ship had crashed in the clearing as planned, with my pain, I had missed the spectacle. Suddenly Storm roared, a Galra fighter had managed to graze his back. Storm began to take evasive maneuvers, laser fire rained upon us, passing us near inches from our bodies. A mighty roar filled the valley and the firing ceased, White had come to our aid. I smiled up at her and silently thanked her. She flew above us guarding us like a lioness does with her cub. Storm landed on the ground sending flurries of snow into the air.

"Quickly! In here!" Lanex said.

I was carried into a cave, it was different from anything I had ever seen. The cavern glowed a soft metallic green, it looked like it was sprinkled with star dust. It felt like a whole different world in here, I watched amazed and traced with my eyes the green veins on the sealing. It was beautiful.

"Set her down here." A woman with a raspy voice said.

Storm gently laid me down, I let out a sigh of relief when my body touched the soft surface. The woman who had ordered Storm to set me down had white long hair that fell over her back like a blanket of snow. She had to usual blue skin the Trinderians had with the white markings running down her chin. She looked old as her skin had wrinkles. The woman held a jar that glowed the same color as the cavern, it looked liquid.

"What is that?"

She looked at me and moved the jar around sloshing the liquid. "This is Amorite in liquid form, we use it to heal wounds."

She dipped her hand in the Amorite and began to apply it to my wing, as soon as it touched me, I began to feel less pain and a wave of warmth washed over me.

"You're going to be alright, Amorite was cure almost anything." Lanex assured with a smile. He kneeled down beside me and took my right hand in his and glanced right into my eyes. "Thanks for honoring your word."

I smiled.

"A promise made, is a promise kept."

Thanks for Reading!

I will be taking suggestions of things you would like to see happen in the story.

Also if you have not seen the new season, I would recommend you go see it. Its amazing!


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

 **Stayin' Alive**

My wing began to heal fast to the point where the pain became numb, it felt heavy. With the help of Bitma, the old lady who tended to my injury, I was soon able to move my wing around but still with a bit of difficulty. Storm was curled up in a corner refusing to leave my side, always keeping an eye on me as if somehow, I was going to disappear from his sight.

 _"Relax Storm, I feel much better now."_

 _"I'll relax until your wing is fully healed."_

We were still inside the emerald glowing cave, I was laying down on my back. I traced the green veins on the ceiling to pass the time.

 _"I won't be able to stay still for much longer, sooner or later, we will have to go back to the others…I wonder how they are doing."_

 _"I'll lay a force field above you if that is what it takes to keep you resting."_ Storm retaliated.

His comment made me chuckle, _"We are at war. Injuries are just a byproduct of it."_

 _"I know, I just…I just wish things could be different. I yearn for our old life as hatchlings."_ Storm said with nostalgia. His thoughts ran over the landscape of our planet from high up in the sky. I closed my eyes and joined him, letting him carry me in his memory. Green pastures adored the ground, trees extended as far as the eye could see, mountain picks so high in the sky making us feel insignificant at their might, but all of this was no more. I honestly did not know if my planet still existed and if it did, I was sure it would be in a deteriorating state. Deep down I was scared to know.

The memory began to change, it slowly evolved into a nightmare. The green grass began to burn with an intense bright orange fire.

 _"Taylin"_

That fire swallowed each and every tree until the whole forest burned like the very hell on earth. Animals raced out of the forest trying to save their lives but where ever they ran, the fire was faster.

 _"Taylin!"_

The once majestic mountains looked broken as balls of fire rained from the sky. They impacted on them breaking chucks of their once beautiful faces, disfiguring them. The blue sky was covered by thick black smoke, an orange-red vortex swirled menacingly in the middle.

 _"Taylin!"_

I gasped and opened my eyes sitting up quickly breathing heavily.

"I'm, I'm sorry…I got carried away by my emotions." I said between breaths.

 _"I know the feeling, I have thought of it too. I don't know if I want to know what really happened to our planet."_

I placed my hand on his snout, he had moved his head closer trying to comfort me.

 _"This is why I can't stay still for a very long. I will start to ponder on things that will only bring me pain."_

I closed my eyes and concentrated on dematerializing my wings, they disappeared leaving me a great pain on my back that slowly subdued. I held my breath until the pain was bearable.

I stood up and grabbed my helmet and made my way toward the entrance of the cave, Storm followed, his talons made light clicking noises on the stone beneath our feet. When we reached the entrance, I was surprised to see the Trinderians up and about repairing their village and others having conversations about past events. Toward the edge of the village, The White Lion stood standing on all fours as if watching over them. The memory was hazy, but I remembered she had come to aid us when a Galra fighter had attacked us.

"What are you doing up?!" Lanex was running towards me with a worried expression.

He finally reached me, "I could not stay laying down any longer, I have to get back to the other Paladins soon."

"You have to leave already?" He asked with disappointment.

"I have to know how the others did on their missions and if they have returned to the castle."

He nodded his head understanding and reached for his back pulling out my sword Tempest that had been strapped there.

"Then I will return this to you." He held Tempest in both his hands and presented it to me, I passed my right hand over it, it glowed a light blue color before it vanished into thin air.

"I heard that you were very brave in fending off the Galra and freeing your people. You did good Lanex." I placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled.

"Oh, it was nothing." He rubbed his neck with his right hand a bit shy, "You did most of the work."

"No, we all did it together."

"You know I was thinking of bringing back the Shadow Warriors." I said as I moved toward one of the ledges by the entrance of the cave. "They were powerful warriors that I commanded back when the war first broke out. I was looking for candidates and I think I found the first one."

Lanex looked stunned, he looked behind him trying to see if I was talking about someone else. He then slowly pointed to himself still not believing my words.

"Me?"

I chuckled, "Yes, you."

"But…but I don't think I got what it takes."

"You are more than what you think you are." I smiled.

I reached above me to grab one the longest icicles that hung from the entrance of the cave and broke it off and walked back to Lanex.

"Back on my planet, each warrior who formed a part of the Shadow Guard had a unique blade. One that would in a way define their personality."

I tapped into my powers and pictured a sword in my head, the icicle in my hand began to glow a bright white. It was so bright that Lanex covered his eyes with his arm. When the light died down, in my hands laid a beautiful crystal sword. It was see through like the ice it was made of and it sparkled in the daylight. It hilt was white with silver vines that wrapped around it until they ended at the top forming a Drako biting its tail with its wings extend out, the insignia of my family, the Firehearts.

Lanex gasped for air not believing his eyes.

"This sword is yours, it defines you perfectly. Like it's crystal body that hides no secrets, you have bin frank with your true intentions from the start. Take it, it's yours."

I extended the sword to him and he reached for it slowly, he raised the blade towards the sky in front of his face examining every detail of it.

His gaze then returned to me, "I won't let you down." He said and lowered the sword and bowed his head.

"I know you won't." I said with a smile.

 _"Welcome Lanex, you are now one of us."_ Storm appraised.

Lanex grinned, his bright blue eyes sparkled with excitement. I placed my helmet on ready to get back to the team.

"Well, I guess it's time we take our leave. Our work here is done."

"Me and my people are very grateful for what you and Storm did for us. My father sends his regards, he is personally inspecting the shipments that will transport a large sum of Amorite to Olkarion as we speak."

"Give your father my thanks." I place a hand on his shoulder, "I hope we see each other soon."

"Safe journey Taylin."

We began walking towards White, as we got closer her eyes ignited and she lowered her head to the ground inviting us in. I sat on my seat and it moved forward into position as the control panel came to life.

"All systems are go."

 _"At least leaving the planet won't be as rough as entering it."_ Storm commented grimly.

I laughed, "What? I thought you loved flying."

 _"I'm just glad to leave the snow behind."_

I placed my hands on my lion's control handles ready to take off, that is until Allura's frantic voice came through the comm making me stop our take off.

"Paladins are you there?!"

"We're here Allura, what's wrong?" I asked concerned for her well-being.

"That monster that attacked us on the Balmera has returned! I need you to return immediately!" She exclaimed with a bit of panic in her voice.

"How?! We saw that thing get crushed by the Balmera!"

"I don't know but its alive and headed right toward me!"

"We are on our way Allura, hold on!"

I pulled on my control handles and White responded by leaping in the air and taking flight toward the Trinderian atmosphere. When we exited the planet, on cue, a familiar blue vortex appeared, and we went through it. When we came out we were met with the Galra robot beast, it looked more hideous than before without a head. Its arms were extended out and it had purple crystals sticking out of its body. To my right I saw the Blue Lion taking evasive maneuvers as the monster began to fire upon us.

"Whoa! How is that thing still operating? It doesn't even have a head!" Lance exclaimed.

"It must be using the Balmera's crystals as a power source allowing it to function without a head." I said moving away from its firing beam, Hunk followed my move.

"What we need is to focus on is defeating that thing!" Shiro said. His voice brought a small smile to my lips, glad to hear it once again.

"How did we defeat it last time?" Keith asked.

"We formed Voltron, then I stuck in my Bayard and shot it with my blaster right in its arms lasers, but that didn't stop it so then we had to punch it." Hunk answered refreshing our memory of past events.

"So, we need to form Voltron." Shiro said.

"But we only have three lions." Pidge butted in.

"Maybe we can form the legs and kick it." Lance suggested. Everyone else stayed silent trying to process if he was being serious. The monster took us off guard and fired a large beam from its chest towards Hunk and I, we were able to move out of the way, missing us by a hairs length. The beam hit two planetesimals near the Balmera wiping them out. I silently prayed they were uninhabited.

"That new laser is much more powerful, we're definitely gonna need all the lions." Shiro stated.

"Hunk, Taylin. You need to keep it distracted so that we can fly back to get our lions. Once we get our lions out, we'll cover you, so you can fly Keith in for Red."

"Wait, wait, wait. We have to hold that thing off by ourselves?!" Hunk exclaimed as the Blue Lion headed back to the castle to retrieve the Black and Green Lions.

"We can do this Hunk! Just until the others can join us." I encouraged.

We began to return fire trying to move the monster back away from the castle. Each beam that it fired was inches away from direct impact, the crystals it absorbed from the Balmera had made it much faster and agile than before. I moved away from in front of its chest and fired at its side, but my attack verily caused any damage, its armor seemed un-penetrable.

"Those crystals are blocking all of our attacks!" Hunk exclaimed.

The monster was using two large wing like crystals to block our attacks, nothing could go through. The monster came in for another attack, we were able to evade it, but the beam hit the castle deactivating the particle barrier.

"The castle!"

"We have to get it away from the castle!" Hunk exclaimed and tried to ram the monster's crystal shields. I moved White toward the monster as well to help Hunk push it back, we managed to move it a bit and we quickly moved away before it could shoot us. The monster began to come after us.

"Good, it's chasing us." Keith said as we moved away from the monster.

"I'm not sure whether to be relieved or scared!" Hunk cried.

"I think it's safe to say both!" I exclaimed back flipping to avoid getting hit.

"Bank left! Barrel roll! Nose dive!" I heard Keith instruct Hunk.

"Quit back lion driving!" Hunk yelled back annoyed.

"I'll keep it distracted. Go get the Red Lion!" Lance's face appeared on my screen, I saw the Blue Lion headed toward us. Hunk did not have to be told twice, he headed back to the castle full speed but to my horror we did not notice as the monster fired in his direction.

"Hunk watch out!" But it was too late, the Yellow Lion took a direct hit immobilizing them.

"Guys!" Lance exclaimed, the Yellow Lion began to be pulled by the Balmera's gravitational force and they began to move toward its surface.

"Hunk! You need to pull up!" I yelled.

"Hunk do something!" Keith exclaimed.

"I can't! Nothing's working! Come on boy. Come back to me!" Hunk spoke to his lion trying to make it come back online. To my left I saw the Black Lion coming towards us, I moved closer to the monster trying to lure it into following me. Lance and Pidge followed my lead, Shiro was able to grab ahold of the Yellow Lion before it plummeted into the Balmera. He took Hunk and Keith closer to the castle.

"Shiro! It's on its way to the castle!" Pidge exclaimed.

"I got it." Shiro answered and dropped the Yellow Lion close to the castle and moved back to our position.

"Wait! Who's got me?!" Hunk cried.

I joined the Black Lion in its attack as I fed the water element energy into White and let out a strong water tunnel towards it. I held onto the attack for about ten ticks, but the monster's crystal shields kept it intact. I felt Storm transfer energy to me, replenishing the energy I had just lost.

 _"You fire, ill supply the energy."_ Storm said, and I nodded.

He opened up his strength to me and I tapped into the pool of his powers, mending our energies together until they became one.

"Ok, again!"

Together we fed White with a massive amount of energy and fired again. This time the water tunnel glowed a bright blue and it had tripled in size, we managed to push the monster back a few feet.

"Way to go Taylin!" Lance cheered but the monster began to shoot at us immediately.

"Don't sing victory yet!" I yelled.

Everyone began to shoot at the monster but none of us were able to get a decent shot at its body, its shields appeared to have a mind of their own and moved around the monster protecting it from every angle.

"Sorry we're late guys." Keith voice came through the comm as he joined us in our effort.

"Let's form Voltron and take this thing down like we did the last time!" Lance exclaimed.

"I don't think the Robeast is gonna sit around and wait for us to transform." Keith shot back.

"Keith's right, we need to think of something else." Shiro said.

"I think I've got an idea!" Pidge exclaimed, we moved away from the Robeast to regroup.

"Guys, see if you can get me an open shot at its chest."

"On it." And we moved toward the monster for a counter attack.

Lance moved in front of the monster and shot an ice blast at the crystal shields; the others began to shoot at it from all directions trying to blind it. This gave Pidge the perfect opportunity to get a clear shot at its chest. She flew towards it and shot a green beam at its chest; immediately green vines began to grow out from its center and wrapping around its body immobilizing it.

"Nice job Pidge! Now form Voltron!" Shiro ordered.

At his command our lions began to mend together until we became the most powerful weapon in the universe, Keith summoned the sword and we moved toward the Robeast. The monster struggled against the vines that tightened around its body, before it could escape, we stabbed it in its chest causing the monster to explode. Millions on tiny crystals floated in space like glittering space dust.

"Great work Paladins, now return to the castle so we can get moving to Olkarion." Allura ordered. We disbanded and headed into our perspective hangars and headed into the control room. On my way there, I was met with Shiro who took me by surprise by hugging me from behind and lifting me off the ground. I would have enjoyed every moment of this reunion, but a great pain ran through my back making me yelp. Shiro set me down quickly and walked around me until we were face to face.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" He asked looking me over for any sign of injury.

"I ran into some trouble back on Trinder, but nothing to worry about." I brushed it off.

"What kind of trouble?" Shiro gazed deep into my eyes and crossed his arms. He looked like he was not going anywhere until I told him the truth. I looked away not being able to hold his gaze and fiddled with my hands much like a child when they are being scolded.

"I kind of" I cleared my through, "crashed a Galra cruiser by exploding its power core." I gave him a sheepish grin.

"You did what?!" He said shocked.

"My wing got hurt by some falling debris causing a small fracture on its bone." I held out my hands trying to reassure him as his gaze grew more intense in worry.

"We need to take you to the med bay." He tried to grab my arm, but I took a step back.

"No, it's fine. One of the healers in Lanex's village applied a salve that will help in the healing process. It just hurts a bit when I apply pressure on it." Shiro still did not look convince, I sighed and took both his hands into mine and looked into his eyes. "I assure you that I will be fine. Right now, we have more important things to worry about that my wing, besides I won't be flying anytime soon. I got White and Storm for that." I gave him a smile and squeezed his hands. He gazed into my eyes trying to find a reason to pick me up and run me to the med bay, but I sent a comforting feeling through our link. He finally sighed and looked down at our connected hands.

"Alright" he returned his gaze. "But if you feel so much as a flinch of pain, I will take you to the med bay without a single argument."

His statement made me chuckle. "I won't argue with that." I stood up on the tip of my toes and gave him a kiss of the lips. "Come on, the others must be already in the control room." He inter-winded my right hand with his left and pulled me alongside him toward the others.

The doors to the control room opened at our presence, the other Paladins stood by the entrance. Allura smiled at me when she noticed us. "Allura, have you heard from Coran?" Keith asked. Her smile immediately vanished and became expressionless, she did not even look at Keith. I was going to have a serious conversation about her behavior. The way she gave Keith the cold shoulder was unfair, we did not choose who are parents were. The universe just placed us there.

"Yes" she said looking straight ahead. Keith crossed his arms and looked down at the floor with a frown. Everyone else noticed the tension in the room until Lance decided to break it.

"So, we ready to pop through the wormhole and get back to Olkarion?"

"Yes" she answered more enthusiastically. "I've checked in with Coran and the teladuv is nearly complete. He also informed me that they have received shipments of Amorite, making the process move a lot quicker." I smiled and nodded my head at her. "Hunk, thank you for getting the scaultrite." She said with a smile toward him totally neglecting Keith's help in retrieving it.

"No problem." Hunk perked up but when he noticed she did not say anything about Keith, he looked confused. "You know Keith was there too." Allura's expression changed to that of annoyed and turned slightly to glare at Keith. Keith was trying very hard to keep his composure. Allura looked away and turned to her controls to open a wormhole to Olkarion. Everyone made their way to their perspective places as the castle began to move toward the blue vortex. As I passed by, I whispered to Allura under my breath so only she could hear. "I got some matters to discuss with you." I did not even turn to see her expression but kept walking toward my seat. Not long after I had settled down, we exited the wormhole and in front of us was the green world of Olkarion. This planet resembled mine in so many ways, I felt happy to be able to return here.

Allura landed the castle near the shining metal city and we made our way toward the Olkari lab. When we arrived, through the glass, we gazed upon a massive teludav. Its surface reflected the rays of the sun, it sort of looked like an upside down crown. Coran greeted us with a nod of his head, "With the scaultrite lenses, this teludav will be done in less than a quintet." He informed us as we stared at it in awe.

"Nice job Coran, fist bump." Hunk placed his left arm around Coran's shoulders and extended his right fist toward him. Coran looked strangely at the gesture and slowly touched his fist with his own. "Now blow it up." Hunk opened his hand and Coran's eyes widened.

"Oh, don't you dare! It took forever to build this teladuv! And let's not forget it's a pivotal piece that we need in our plan to defeat Zarkon." Coran's over reaction brought a smirk to my lips, I was sure that he misunderstood Hunks gesture. Suddenly Coran yelped as a screen appeared before us.

"I've made some improvements to your design. This will increase our chances of survival in this reality 205 percent." Slav said through the screen. Coran looked at him dumfounded. "Is this guy a little- "

"Yes" Shiro quickly answered annoyed and everyone looked upon Slav with a frown. Something told me that Shiro and Slav started out on the wrong foot. Suddenly there was an explosion outside, Coran spun around to look at the screen. "Stop hitting the teladuv!" Smoke began to rise from where Slav was hitting the teladuv with a rock.

 _"Storm, please get Slav AWAY from the teladuv."_

Storm growled through our link and I felt how he took flight. Not long after that, he appeared and snatched Slav with his right paw, he hung upside down screaming his head off.

"This is the reality were I'm terribly scared of heights!"

 _"Deal with it."_ Storm shot back.

We began to laugh as he flew away with him to drop him in the forest.

We stood on the roof of the lab overlooking the city, the sun bathed the scenery with orange and yellow rays as it slowly set in the horizon. I felt at peace for once in a long time, I tried to keep at bay the thoughts of the upcoming fight to enjoy this moment of silence that is until Pidge broke it.

"What's everyone thinking about?" She asked as she sat on the edge of the building.

"Zarkon." The others answered, except for Hunk. As always, he was thinking about food and mentioned something about calzones, whatever does were. We all gazed at him blankly, it amazed me how someone could neglect all thoughts just by thinking about food. I should take a page from Hunks notebook.

"I mean, uh, heck yeah. I'm thinking about calzones ok? I mean does it always have to be about Zarkon? He's a bad guy, we're trying to defeat him, I get it. I'm hungry." His comment made me chuckle.

"Your right, it does not always have to be about Zarkon." I said with a smile toward him and he returned it.

"We've come a long way." Keith said.

"Yeah, remember when Hunk used to throw up from riding in the elevator?" Lance teased receiving a glare from Hunk.

"You guys remember that Arusian, Klyzap? I think that was his name? Cool name." Hunk said.

Lance laughed, "Yeah, Keith tried to beat him up even though he was the size of a peanut."

"He was their bravest warrior!" Keith shot back annoyed.

I began to laugh as I got a flash back, they turned to look at me with slight smiles. "I think the most embarrassing moment was when we tried to build Voltron by stacking our lions on each other."

"Oh my gosh! Yes!" Pidge agreed and we all began to laugh.

"Allura began to shoot us with the castle's lasers and everyone began to run like crazy." Lance added in-between laughs.

"Yeah! I was so caught off guard that I ended up nocking Shiro off the pyramid." I said holding my stomach as it began hurting from all the laughter. Shiro joined me as he remembered as well.

"Ha, how about the time the food goo machine attacked us in the kitchen?" Pidge said.

"That was the scariest thing that's happened to me in the entire time I've been here." Hunk retorted with a grin.

"Oh, come on." Lance teased as he lightly nudged his side.

"What? It's the truth." Hunk defended.

"We faced sentries, a haunted castle, giant robeasts, a mall security guard." Lance mentioned.

"And don't forget that cool cube thing." Pidge jumped up adding to his list.

"Yeah, and that awful cube thing." Lance joked.

Everyone had a smile on their face as we were caught up in our memories of our time together. We had our ups and downs but that had only brought us closer. What we had was something special that not even Zarkon could take, we had become a family.

"You realize once we defeat Zarkon, the universe doesn't need Voltron anymore." Shiro said, his comment made us all become quiet. His words did bring a little bit of worry to my heart, will I be really willing to go to Earth with Shiro? To start a new life with him on his planet after all we been through? Deep down I knew the answer, and of course I honestly follow him to the ends of the universe if it was necessary but something about adapting to a whole new style of life is what bother me. I had been fighting for most of my young adult life, my father forged me into the warrior I am today and prepared me to one day take his place.

"We can return to Earth." Lance said with longing.

"I can look for my family." Pidge added hopefully.

"I guess I can look for mine." Keith said unsure.

"This is its. As long as everything goes according to plan, we can't fail." Shiro said with determination. He stood facing the city below us with his arms crossed. I took a step forward and place a hand on his arm.

"Let us see what fate awaits us."

I'm back my fellow Paladins!

Sorry about my absence, I had a ton of school work todo plus finals have been worst than the Galra, thank God thats over.

Thanks for all the support and those people who leave comments I appreciate the support. I do read them.

I'll try to update soon, til next time!

 _Anonymous-E "Really good storyline. Keep up the good work."_

 _treesngrapes "I literally found this today and caught up in a couple of hours! It's amazing! Keep up the great work and I can't wait for the next update!"_

 _BadassLevi "Omg this is amazing so far! I like the interactions with everyone too. And shiro is just so sweet and great as ever. What a space dad"_


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

 **Best Laid Plans**

The sun was still setting on the horizon when everyone began to head in different directions to prepare for the oncoming battle. We were all biting our nails off. Wondering if our plan would work, if the teludav would be powerful enough to withstand the transportation of an entire fleet or if Slav could really hide the teludav until we got Zarkon in position. Everything was a big "if", nothing was certain, it felt like going into battle blindfolded.

"Aren't you coming Taylin?" Shiro asked breaking my thoughts.

"Uh, yes. I'll catch up with you in a moment, I have something I need to do." I smiled at him. He nodded his head and began to make his way back to the castle surely to put on his Paladin armor. I wanted to find Allura and have a chat with her about her behavior toward, not only to Keith, but against the other Galra. I descended the stairs that lead to the roof and made my way back into the lab. Coran was there punching in something on his tablet.

"Coran, have you seen Allura?"

"Ah!" He gave a yelp and jumped up, apparently, he was so concentrated on his work he did not notice me come in. "Sorry, yes. She is through those doors on the balcony."

I smiled, "Thanks Coran."

I was still debating on how I would approach the subject. When it came to the Galra, it became difficult to make Allura listen; she was stubborn. My two options are to go straight to the point and call her out on her attitude or take one of my mother's techniques that include a life lesson. As a drew closer to the doors, I noticed her standing close the balcony watching the city below us. I took my decision and chose the latter as I came to a stop next to her.

"Hey Allura." I said looking at her from a side view.

"Hey Taylin, what brings you here?" She turned her gaze away from the horizon to look at me.

"Just wanted to talk to you. We haven't had much time to sit and talk like we use to."

"That is true, so much has happened." She sighed and looked at her feet.

"Everything is going to turn out fine Allura." I reassured her, but it felt like I was trying to reassure myself. She looked up and gave me the tinniest of smiles.

"So, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Just wanted to have a friend to friend conversation with you and give me your thoughts about a matter I have encountered."

"Is everything alright with you and Shiro?" She asked intertwining her hands in front of her.

"Yes, everything is fine between us. Rather what I need to discuss with you is more in the…" I scratched my chin trying to find the right words. "our duties as leaders. Someone came to me with a problem and I wanted to share it with you to see what you think."

She lightened up, "Oh, sure."

"Ok well, there is this boy who is having a really hard time fitting in with other people. He does not interact with others very frequently and mostly likes to keep to himself, but that's not the problem. He is a bit different than the others in his family and because of those differences, the others shun him. His sister is one of the main causes of his suffering, she shuns him, treats him as if he does not exist all because he is not a pure blood but a hybrid. She has not taken the time to really get to know him and understand what it's like to be different. The boy blames himself for being that way. But who is truly at fault, the boy or the sister?"

Allura thought about my story for a few ticks until she finally answered. "Well everyone is different, he should not feel any-less because of what he is. His sister is wrong for treating him that way. No one should be judged based on their blood line but by the actions and deeds they have done, be it good or bad."

"You believe that?"

She looked at me at bit confused, "Yes."

"That sister Allura…is you."

She was taken back by my statement and her mouth hanged open not knowing what to say.

"Keith does not deserve your indifference."

"But that's different!" She retaliated finally finding her voice.

"Really? How? Only because he is part Galra?"

"You know very well that the Galra are not to be trusted. Have you so soon forgotten who destroyed our homes? Our families?"

"Zarkon is to blame for the destruction of our planets and countless more. The Galra who have committed those atrocities were under his command. No matter what race, there are good people and there are bad people, but we cannot just judge them by their blood."

Allura was about to speak but shut her mouth instead clearly not having an argument, so I continued with a soft tone.

"Keith has proven to be a reliable person who we can count on to fight by our side. He is part of this make-shift family we have created. Humans, Alteans, Drakies, and Galras. We are all different, but we care about one another, that Allura, is what makes us a family. Our real families might be gone, but we got one another."

Allura's eyes became watery and a few tears began to slip onto her cheeks. She quickly took a step forward and embraced me.

"Oh Taylin, your right. I'm so sorry." I rubbed her back and returned the hug.

"It's not me you need to apologize to Allura." She pulled back and rubbed her eyes.

"Instead on brining this team together, I'm breaking it apart." She said with sadness.

I place a hand on her shoulder, "We all make mistakes Allura, but we can fix them. Death is the only thing in this universe we can't fix but while we have life, we can always try to make things right."

Allura gave me a smile, the features of her faces were bright with the setting sun. "Thanks, Taylin. Know if you'll excuse me I have to go prepare the castle for the upcoming battle." I nodded my head and watched her go. I turned to look at the city below us as the buildings began to cast long shadows, soon it would be night time.

"Even when your gone mother, you still find a way to help me." A breeze past over me. I closed my eyes just feeling it caress my skin.

We were by the entrance of the castle, everyone looked ready in their Paladin armors for what would come. The few rays of light of the setting sun marked our departure, I only hoped that I would get to see it again.

"Thank you, Ryner, for all you and the Olkari have done to assist us." Allura said as we said our goodbyes. Everyone was present, including Kolivan and his shadow Antok.

"You and your people are a vital part of the ever-growing resistance toward Zarkon and even though you won't be going with us on the battle field, your spirit goes with us. Your people's hope gives us strength for the battle to come." I added.

Ryner bowed her head, "The Olkari will aid you in anything that we can, know that all of you will always have a place here."

"Your highnesses, it's time to go." Coran said.

The Blade of Marmorans, Allura, Storm, Slav and Coran all headed back into the castle while we Paladins got into our lions that stood near the giant teludav. The Black Lion stood next to White, together like so many decades ago. "Shiro!" I called him before he could enter his lion. He stopped and turned to look at me as I ran toward him and caught him by surprise when I leaped into his arms. He stumbled back a bit but regained his stance after he wrapped his arms around me.

"What brought this on?" He asked with a chuckle.

"I didn't want to leave until I was properly wished good luck." I said looking up at him, I kept my hands interlocked behind his neck. He smirked and leaned down to me to connect his lips to mine. The kiss was soft and gentle until something is Shiro changed and he began to kiss me more passionately with intensity. Every time he kissed me, it felt like all time stopped and the universe looked upon us with awe. It felt like the only thing that matter was us, there was no war, no pain, no Zarkon, to get between us. Everything around us faded away and it was just our hearts beating as one.

"Guys get a room!" Lance's voice came over the comm. We immediately pulled apart breathing heavily, but he still kept his arms around me.

"Way to ruin the moment Lance." Shiro retaliated. Everyone else began to laugh and we joined in too. I placed a hand on his cheek beneath the visor of his helmet, "I'll see you when this is all over."

"Can't wait." He smiled at me and we parted toward each of our lions.

When my hand touched the handles of my lion she gave a load roar coming to life.

"Yes Nimawe, its time." I said patting my right handle.

"Everyone lock into positions." Shiro ordered.

We each took a side of the teludav and grabbed ahold of it in between our lion's jaws.

"We're taking this thing up. Princess, we are go for launch."

"Charging main turbine." Allura informed.

The castle began to take flight toward the Olkari atmosphere and we lifted the teludav carefully into the sky. The city below us grew smaller as we ascended, many Olkari looked up at the sky and waved at us. When we finally reached space, we left the teludav to float and made our way toward our lion's hangars to meet at the bridge of the castle to discuss our plan one more time. When we entered the Alteans and the Blade of Marmorans stood waiting for us with a hologram of Zarkon main ship.

"All right guys, listen up." Shiro said gaining everyone's attention. I waved my hand in the air in front of me and a small screen appeared. I pressed a couple of buttons until a hologram of the teludav appeared above Zarkon's central command image. Shiro gave me the go ahead with a nod of his head.

"The plan is simple," I began to explain. "Shiro will use the Black Lion to lure Zarkon's fleet to our current location and make sure he's within the teludav's area of effect. Keeping the teludav hidden behind the space-fold until the last possible tick is essential for the plan to work."

"We can count on you, right Slav?" Shiro asked turning to look at Slav.

"Absolutely, I'll be fine. I'm not sure about the gravity generator though." Slav answered fiddling with his many hands.

"What?" Hunk asked bewildered.

"How can you be sure and not sure at the same time?" I asked crossing my arms. Slav shrunk his body under my gaze, "Hiding a ship is one thing, but I've never had to build a gravity generator for something this large before." He explained. "I know it will work, but I'm not sure for how long." Slav finished brushing his chin in thought.

"Well, that's a risk we'll have to take." Shiro began. "Once Zarkon's ship is in position, Kolivan and Antok will coordinate with Thace. Together, they'll take down Zarkon's security system and uploads the virus. This is a very important step to the plan"

"And then, he'll be a sitting du-flax." Pidge said with a smirk. The other Paladins and Galra looked at her with confusion since they did not know what she was talking about. "What? A du-flax is an Altean creature with a beak and webbed feet." Pidge said after she noticed their expressions.

"We'll wormhole Zarkon five hundred million light years away, and he'll be in the Ygiz Galaxy before he knows what's hit him!" Coran stated and moved the teludav to swallow Zarkon's ship and swung it away like a disk.

"What about Thace?" Shiro asked.

"He should be getting into position now. We received his last communication three quintants ago. We should hear from him soon." Kolivan said.

"Let's do it." Shiro said with determination. He began to make his way toward the control room exit. When he passed me, he took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze reassuring me that everything was going to be fine. I watched him head to his station as the platform lowered him to the zip-line below that would take him to the Black Lion, the perfect bait for Zarkon.

I felt uneasy letting Shiro go on his own toward Zarkon's central command. I kept pacing back and forth in front of my seat as time passed even when Storm reassured me that only a short period of time had gone by. If I was not wearing my gloves, I'd be biting my nails off for sure.

"Zarkon took the bait," Shiro's voice came over the comm flooding me with relief. "He's got my location. Is everybody in position?"

"We've not yet heard from Thace, he was supposed to contact us two vargas ago." Kolivan said.

"He could've been captured or killed." Antok added.

"We need to abort the mission immediately." Kolivan stated.

"Abort?! No! We cannot back away now." Allura retaliated.

"The Blade of Marmora does not take chances." Kolivan shot back.

"It's how we've survived for so long." Antok agreed with his master.

"Does are words of a coward!" I stated. "Hiding has held you back from doing what was necessary. You stood and watched as Zarkon continued to reign for more than ten thousand years. We finally have a chance to put an end to his terror, so no, we will not back down now."

"We would rather wait than jeopardize everything, besides, it's too late to get someone else on the inside." Kolivan said to me.

"There must be another way."

"I'll do it." Keith said standing up from his chair.

"What?" Allura asked.

"I'll sneak onto Zarkon's ship. I'm Galra, so I'll be able to interact with their technology. Pidge, you can rig up one of those pods with a cloaking device, right?" Keith said.

"Well, yeah." Pidge answered.

"Going onto Zarkon's ship is a suicide mission. I would never command someone so inexperienced to go on a mission so dangerous." Kolivan objected.

"No one's commanding me. I'm doing it." Keith said.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked concerned.

"I'm sure. The plan is already in motion, it would be a waste to just let it end before it started." He answered.

I crossed my arms and looked at the floor with a sigh, "All right, Pidge do your thing. Keith, get ready for departure." Pidge nodded her head and ran out of the control room followed by Keith. Allura stood on her platform with her arms crossed deep in thought until she finally reacted and made her way toward the exit, finally going to do the right thing. Only Hunk, Storm, Lance, Kolivan, Antok and me were left in the control room.

"This is madness." Antok stated.

I let out a puff of air with a small chuckle, "Says the person who never takes risks." He looked at me with a hard glare.

"You know nothing of what's at stake here." He growled back.

"I know exactly what's at stake, but not like you, I'm tired of seeing people suffer under Zarkon's thumb. I was not able to do something to save my people from extinction, but I can do something now."

"Wise words Queen Fireheart. Let's just hope they are not your last."

A deep growl echoed throughout the room, it was Storm voicing his disagreement, putting an end to the conversation.

Shiro's voice came over the comm once again, "They're here."

I pressed a button on my screen and Zarkon's central command popped up, a small purple dot marked the Black Lion's position. Sound of laser fire came over the communications channel, the purple dot began to move faster as incoming Galra fighters began to fire upon them. At the edge of the fight, a blue beacon appeared marking Keith's position.

"I've got Zarkon on the hook, bringing him your way." Shiro informed. "Keith you ready? We've only got one shot at this!"

"Engaging cloaking device," Keith muttered. "Moving toward the fleet now." His beacon began to move closer to the main ship.

"Roger that," Shiro said, "I don't see you, but I'm locked on your signal. I'll clear a path."

"Thanks, Shiro." Keith responded.

I noticed three Galra fighters getting awfully close to Keith's pod, "Keith you go three incoming fighters to your right."

"I got it." Shiro answered as he moved toward them taking them out.

"I'm coming in hot!" Keith notified. His bacon disappeared once he got closer to Zarkon's ship signaling he had entered.

"I'm in." I let out a breath I held involuntarily.

"The plan is working." Allura said from her platform.

"The Castle of Lions defenses are up and ready to go." Lance informed.

"Slav, that's your cue." I said.

"Starting gravity generator now. Commencing cloak."

"Paladins head down to your hangars and be ready for take-off." I ordered. I stepped back on my platform as it lowered me down to the tunnel leading toward my lion.

 _"Good luck Taylin, may the stars watch over you."_

 _"Thanks Storm."_

I felt how Storm filled me with a feeling of warmth, it was his way of giving me an embrace. His gesture filled me with more confidence and determination. "This ends today." I said under my breath as my speeder lifted me up into White's under hatch. As always, White rose up from her slumber at my touch and gave me a low growl as a greeting.

"You ready White?"

She bowed her head a bit but quickly moved it to face the sealing giving a powerful roar in the process.

"I'll take that as a yes." I said with a grin.

Shiro's voice came over the comm of my helmet, "I'm two minutes out. Is everybody ready?"

"No, Keith hasn't made it to the hub yet. We need more time." Kolivan answered.

"How much more?" Shiro asked grunting as he was still fending off Galra fighters.

"He'll get there, just a little more time." I said with confidence.

"I hope not much because my gravity generator is not going to run forever!" Slav stated.

"Paladins! Launch!" I ordered. We exited the castle as the same time gaining speed, moving toward the battle.

"I don't know how much longer I can hold Zarkon's fleet in this position by myself!" Shiro stated.

"You won't have to!" Pidge yelled as we came into the battle. I summoned my jaw blade and began to slice the Galra fighters in front of me.

"Good timing." Shiro said.

I flew in a circle and took down two Galra fighters with laser shots from White's tail.

"Ok, we've got Zarkon's ship right where it needs to be. We gotta keep it here until that virus is uploaded." Shiro informed.

"Let's do it!" Hunk exclaimed.

"All right!" Pidge joined.

"We got this!" Lance reassured.

"Well then, let's take them down!" I yelled.

We split up into different directions of the battle taking down as much Galra fighter as we could. There was a cluster of new incoming fighters from the main ship headed our way. I moved to intercept them before they could join the fight. Once I was in front of them, I shot a torrent of lasers from White's jaws blowing them up in the process. I noticed the Blue Lion fighting off six Galra fighters, one of them was able to get behind him but I caught it in-between White's jaws and crushed it.

"That was close! Thanks!" Lance exclaimed.

"No problem."

"Somebody! Anybody! A little help here!" Hunk yelled.

We turned around to see Hunk being followed by three fighters hot on his tail.

"Lure them to us!" Shiro said. Using White's ability for fast flight, her wings extended taking us at light speed, we caught two fighters with her front paws before they even processed what was going on. Shiro took down the remaining fighter with his jaw blade causing a mini explosion.

"Zarkon's ship is leaving the teludav's area of effect, you must guide it back in." Allura informed.

"This is getting hairy," Lance said, "How's is going Keith?"

Keith's voice came over the comm, "The Galra switched the codes. We're trying a work-around."

His statement confused me, "Is there somebody else there with you?"

"Thace, I found him. I'll explain later." I was relieved to hear that; the upload of the virus would go a lot smoother with someone who knew the system.

"Copy that." Shiro said.

"Uh, everyone, the gravity generator won't maintain power much longer," Slav's frantic voice said, "If it goes down, we're just going to be uncloaked in open space."

I sighed, _why could things never go as planned._

"Do all you can, we just need to hold out a little longer." Shiro answered.

I let out a growl when two fighters persisted, following my flanks closely. I tried moving left and right but could not shake them off, I needed to do something quick before one of their lasers managed to hit me. I drew on my powers and created a shield around White enclosing her in a bubble. I moved my handles forward gaining more speed and sure enough they were still behind me, that is, until I abruptly stopped. They crashed into the shield engulfing us in a fiery explosion. My shield held, protecting us from the explosion, but I did notice a few cracks on its surface.

"Taylin, are you alright?!" Hunk asked.

"Doing fine Hunk. These buggers were just persistent."

The Yellow Lion came into view to my left flying beside me.

"Uh oh, we got two more following our flanks." Hunk stated.

"Keep moving in a straight line avoiding their fire. At my signal we are going to fly in different directions and come around."

"Ok." Hunk said a bit panicked as a laser shot flew by very close to his lion's head.

I opened White's jaws charging up the laser cannon, "Now Hunk!" We flew in an ark in opposite directions and shot down the two fighters who were following us.

"Yes!" Hunk yelled, I chuckled at his excitement.

"Uh Paladins, I hate it when I'm right," Slav said lowly, "The gravity generator just lost power! Now, there's no reality where we all get out alive!" He said panicking.

The teludav and the castle suddenly became visible for everyone to see.

"Princess, the teludav is completely exposed!" Coran's frantic voice came through.

"What do we do?" Pidge asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

"We can't do anything if Keith doesn't get Zarkon's ship shut down." Shiro said.

"I can provide cover for the teludav by summoning a shield, but I don't know for how long a will be able to hold it." I said eyeing the teludav.

"Yeah that might work, but if we need to form Voltron?" Pidge asked.

I had not thought of that, without the White Lion the others can't form Voltron. Suddenly Zarkon's main ship began to charge its ion cannon and moving into position to attack the teludav.

"We cannot wait any longer, I'm powering the teludav now!" Allura said. The teludav turned on giving a bright blue glow illuminating the darkness of space. The Castle of Lions looked tiny compared to its enormous size. I piloted White toward the teludav without a second thought, I could not let something so vital to our plan be destroyed. When I reached the outer rim of the teludav I turned White around to face Zarkon's ship. I took a deep breath as I once again tapped into the pool of my powers, but I was not alone, White and Storm had mended their strength with mine and a light blue shield began to form in front of us. Zarkon's ion cannon began to glow a bright purple as it charged up, now the only thing standing between us was my shield. I analyzed the shield trying to find any flaw but found none. The ion cannon had reached maximum power and was ready to fire, I closed my eyes and concentrated on keeping my shield up, praying that it would withstand the pressure but after a few ticks nothing happened. Reopening my eyes, in front of me was a powerless ship and its ion cannon deactivated.

"They did it!" I voiced my excitement and relief.

"Moving the teludav into position now." Allura stated.

I moved out of the way and lowered my shield to allow Allura free passage. Once on top of them, she lowered the teludav and slowly Zarkon's ship began to disappear into the blue vortex. Multiple explosion came from Galra cruisers as they too have been affected by the virus.

"Everyone hang on! Here we go!" Coran stated.

The castle moved underneath the teludav to enter to wormhole.

"Hurry Paladins! We must make it in before the wormhole closes!" Coran said. All six of us followed after them and as we entered the wormhole we observed a once powerful vessel, defenseless against us. The central command moved slowly through the tunnel, I worried for my friend's well-being.

"Coran, how is Allura doing?" I asked concerned.

"She's weak, but ok."

"Once we exit the wormhole, let her rest. We will deal with this from this point on."

We finally reached our destination and came out of the wormhole into another galaxy, here the stars shone a crimson red.

"We did it! I can't believe we did it!" Pidge cheered.

"See, I told you we could do it." Slav said as a screen with his face popped up off my control panel. I just rolled my eyes, not too long ago he was going crazy about us dying in this reality.

"We indeed did it, but the battle is just beginning." I said.

"Everyone, form Voltron!" Shiro ordered.

Our lions roared and began we began to fly in unison as they shifted and transformed into each part of Voltron. Once we had transformed, we moved toward Zarkon's ship ready to face anything, and no one was going to stand in the way of our victory.

Freedom was just a grasp away.

Thanks for Reading.

Don't forget to vote on your favorite chapters.

Also, what do you guys think of the new cover for the story? It took awhile to make but I finally finished it.

Thanks for your comments!

 _Akiko Crystal- "Wow. Just wow."_


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

 **Black Out**

Zarkon's ship looked enormous the closer we came to it, I put Voltron to a stop when we got close enough. I imagined that we looked tiny compared to the size of the central command.

"We've gotta act fast." Shiro stated, "The power will only be down for twenty minutes. The Blade of Marmora's schematics showed four targets we need to hit. The weapons system, the engine, the bridge, and the shield generator." As he mentioned each section, the areas were highlighted on my screen. "Now, let's put an end to Zarkon, once and for all!"

"Yeah!" We agreed. My heart began to beat fast as adrenaline ran through my veins.

"Form sword!" Shiro ordered.

Keith summoned the sword and we flew toward the central command. We began slicing key parts of its structure creating explosions throughout the ship. The Galra had no way of fighting back. I moved us toward the upper part of the ship as Keith moved the sword to slice the hull in that area. The lacerations looked like giant claw marks that left behind red hot glowing lines. "Hit the engine systems!" Shiro ordered and I changed course stabbing a hole into the engines creating a chain of explosions as we withdrew it. Pidge shot green beams at areas we had not hit with the sword creating more chaos inside the central command. I marked off on my map the areas that we had hit, "The engines have been neutralized, let's move toward the bridge." I said but suddenly I felt my hairs stand on end and a shiver ran down my back.

"Why aren't we moving?" Pidge asked.

"Taylin, what's happening?" Shiro asked brining me back.

"I sense something vile in the energy around us." I turned Voltron around and saw the source of that energy. A black orb with purple highlights was forming underneath the ship.

"What is that?" Lance asked.

"Dark magic." I answered when the orb was fired at us not giving us enough time to evade it. It hit us full force pushing us back. We began to scream as an energy surge ran throughout Voltron, it felt as if my very life force was being sucked out of my body. As if someone had dug their hand into my chest trying to yank out my heart. I felt how the energy from my heart of hearts began to drain, the source of my power was being taken away from me. I tried to hold on to it, but I was too weak. The familiar warmth that emanated from it began to extinguish leaving behind a cold void and engulfing me in darkness.

~Storm's P.O.V~

I watched as the black beam hit Voltron, a blue energy began to emanate from it and was being sucked out by the black hand. I felt immense pain suddenly come through Taylin's and I shared linked. The pain was unbearable, I tried to reach out to help her but that dark energy was blocking me out. I growled in frustration gaining the attention of one of the Galra on the bridge. The pain lasted for about twenty ticks, when it ceased, I tried once again to connect with my rider, but only found darkness.

"Paladins! Can you hear me?" Coran asked frantically over the comm but received only static as a response. Voltron floated lifeless in space with no signs of ever coming back to life, it looked peaceful in a way.

"I thought the virus shut down all of Zarkon's power!" Coran shot at the Galra.

Kolivan did not even flinch at his statement and continued facing forward saying nothing.

"That blast was not from the ship's weapons." Allura answered, "It was magic."

"It must have been the Komar." Kolivan finally spoke up.

 _"How is this possible? What is the Komar? Explain."_ I edged forward looking down at the others.

"Zarkon has been trying to develop a device to extract the quintessence from planets. It appears he succeeded." Kolivan said.

"If it destroys planets, what did it do to the Paladins?" Coran asked.

 _"I can sense the other Paladin's minds, they are dormant but from Taylin, I sense total darkness."_

Allura stood up from the floor with the help of Coran, "It must have affected her more than the others because of her powers."

"You mean, they sucked her powers away?" Coran asked shocked.

" _No, that's not possible. They can take her energy away, but not her powers."_

"Maybe the blast…killed her." Antok stated.

I looked down at him at him and bared my teeth, _"She is not dead! I can sense her life-force even when its faint."_

"Easy their Storm." Coran said trying to calm me down, but I stood my ground. I glared down at Antok, but my mind was somewhere else. I tried harder to connect with Taylin, I moved through the darkness of her mind trying to find a source of light. I was so used to seeing her mind bright with colors, with thoughts and memories, but as I pushed on, I found nothing put black. It was so easy to get lost in here, get embraced by the shadows and never come back but I refused to let Taylin perish, if she died, I would have no reason to keep on living.

As I moved through the darkness I suddenly heard a faint cry. I called out her name but received no answer, so I moved in the direction it came from. Just when I thought it must have been a figment of my imagination, a small light appeared in the distance followed by another cry. I moved quickly towards it and when I reached it, there in the middle of the faint light was Taylin. She was inside a cage huddled in a corner with her head resting on her knees. Her body shook with each sob as she cried silently.

 _"Taylin."_

At the sound of her name, her sobbing stopped, and her body stayed still. She slowly rose her head to look at me. Seeing her face teared stain and eyes red from crying, broke my heart.

 _"What are you doing here?"_

 _"I came to find you, to get you out of this place."_

She hugged her legs closer and huddled deeper into the corner obscuring her small form in the shadows.

 _"I don't want to leave…Storm they took my life-force."_

 _"The others need you Taylin. We can't do these without you, the battle is not over yet."_ I said in the most soothing tone I could coax up, but she did not listen.

 _"The pain…the pain was unbearable…my body is so cold."_ As I looked closer, I noticed her hands tremble constantly.

 _"Taylin, lower the cage."_

 _"No…I put it up to protect me."_

 _"There is no one here that will cause you harm, on the contrary, I want to help you get back."_

I placed my head closer to the cage feeling the coldness of the steel touching my snout.

 _"You can't give up now, there is so much at stake."_

 _"You don't know the amount of pain I was in. I'm afraid to connect back with my body."_

I rouse my head from the ground until I was towering over the cage.

 _"Have you so soon forgotten we share a link. I felt your pain and clearly as you. Our minds and souls are connected for life. You cannot hide anything from me."_ I said sternly. _"You are the last of the Firehearts, are you really going to let your bloodline die? You come too far."_

 _"Even if I wanted to get out of this cage, I don't know how. I locked myself in here with no way out."_

 _"There is always away. Let go of that fear and numb your mind from the pain."_

 _"Alright Storm…I will try…for you."_ She bowed her head and closed her eyes concentrating on bringing the cage down but after some time, nothing happened.

 _"I…I can't!"_ She yelled in frustration.

 _"Yes, you can! You control your mind, it does not control you."_

She closed her eyes once more and balled her hands into fists. She mumbled something intangible until suddenly the bars making up the cage began to glow a dim white.

 _"Keep going! You're doing it!"_

 _"I'm not strong enough!"_

I gave her my strength and she took hold of it and finally, the cage glowed a bright white and vanished into thin air. I let out a triumphant roar and a jet blue flame escaped my jaws lightning up the darkness. Taylin stood up and ran to embrace my neck.

 _"Thank you, Storm."_

 _"I'll always be here for you…Always and forever."_ When I opened my eyes, I was back in the castle's control room.

I opened my eyes slowly, my ears picked up muffled voices. I shook my head trying to get back my senses, until the voices became clear, they were calling my name.

"Taylin, are you there?" Shiro asked.

"She won't respond to anyone." Lance said.

"Guys, what if the blast took her out." Hunk said with fear.

I finally found my voice as strength began to flood into my body surely from Storm, "I'm here."

"Taylin!" They all yelled in unison.

"Oh, thank the ancients!" Coran exclaimed over the comm.

"Are you alright?" Shiro asked with concern.

"Yes, I…I think so."

"Is Voltron operational?" Allura asked.

"It's not working." Hunk said. I tried moving my handles, but nothing appeared on the screen, my control panel was lifeless.

"I can't move my lion." Keith grunted.

"Same here, the control panel won't even power on." I said.

"You've been hit with some kind of witchcraft that draws the quintessence out of you." Coran explained. "You need to get out of there! Another blast like that and you may not survive!"

"Taylin, would you be able to transfer energy to Voltron to power it?" Shiro asked.

I lifted my hand off my handles and tried to summon an element, but nothing happened, the pool of my energy was still too drained.

"No Shiro, I'm sorry. The blast took most of my energy, I can't even summon a small flame on my fingertips."

Suddenly, a loud noise came from Zarkon's ship, it sounded like very heavy hangar doors opening.

"Wait. What's that?" Lance asked interrupting Coran.

Out of the hangar rose a figure that looked a lot like Zarkon. It had finger like wigs on its back glowing a bright white, its body was covered in armor plating from head to toe.

"You must get moving. Remember your training. Remember all the battles you've been through." Allura encouraged.

"Voltron still not responding." Shiro said.

The eyes of the figure before us turned on, they glowed an intense purple.

"It's Zarkon." Shiro confirmed.

My stomach dropped when Zarkon began to make his way toward us. In the distance I noticed the Castle of Lions moving to intercept him.

"Listen to me. You are true Paladins now. Connect with your lions, reach out to each other! Fight! This cannot end now!" Allura yelled.

I leaned toward the edge of my seat looking at the castle move ever closer to Zarkon.

"Fire!" Allura ordered and a large blue beam shot from the castle toward Zarkon, the beam pushed him back toward his ship, but he was able to block it with his shield. He used it to reflect the beam in a different direction and to my horror he aimed it right at the castle. I heard Allura scream as they took the hit and the castle was engulfed in bright orange explosion.

"NO!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. I looked at the ship in shock not being able to hold my tears as they rolled down my cheeks and onto my lap. Everyone was silent, looking upon a damaged castle.

"Everybody listen. We have to fight. We have to channel all our energy. Visualize six becoming one. We have to focus everything we have into moving Voltron." Shiro said.

I took a deep breath getting ready to try to establish a connection with my lion and give Voltron energy if needed from the short supply I had.

"We are the last thing standing in the way of Zarkon's total universe domination. I'm not giving up that fight!" He continued. "Are you Hunk?"

"No." Hunk said with determination and the Yellow Lion roared to life.

"Pidge?"

"Never!" She answered, on cue her lion's eyes turned on and let out a roar.

"Lance?"

"Let's go down swinging," He responded, and his lion also turned on.

"Keith?"

"I'm all in." He said sternly, and the Red Lion gave a roar.

"Taylin?"

"Until my last breath." I responded with new found strength and my control panel came to life. A load roar echoed inside the cockpit and the insignia of Voltron lit up followed by White's wings.

"Then let's get Voltron back in this battle."

"Now I will take back what is mine!" Zarkon yelled over our comm, he was headed straight for us. I pulled my handles backward moving Voltron back to minimize the intensity when Zarkon crashed into us. Keith put the sword up clashing with Zarkon's with a load metal clang. I moved us out of the way flying us upward with Zarkon hot on our tail. I pushed White's handles to the limit but Zarkon was still a few feet behind.

"Someone! Push him back!" I said.

Pidge took the initiative and shot a green beam at him giving me the opportunity to speed forward and turn us around.

"Alright, let's hit him with the big guns. Hunk, form shoulder cannon!" Shiro ordered.

Hunk summoned the cannon without a word and charged it up ready to fire.

"Fire!" Shiro ordered and a bright blue beam shot from the cannon toward Zarkon but before it could hit, Zarkon created a shield with his wings and blocked our attack.

A shiver suddenly went down my back and a familiar feeling washed throughout my body. I looked up as a black orb was fired once again from the Komar. "Oh no you don't!" On instinct I yanked my handles backward avoiding the orb by a hairs length. Just when I had dodged the orb, Zarkon kicked us. I was just verily able to stabilize Voltron when Zarkon came in for another attack, thankfully Keith reacted quickly and brought up the sword just in time. We were stuck in a dual trying to keep our sword in place, Zarkon pushed forward with more strength sending us flying back and kicked us once again. Pidge fired at him, but he hid behind his wings like before. I moved us away from Zarkon at full speed, but it wasn't enough, he was right behind us.

"His speed rivals ours, I can't outrun him." I said pushing forward, my handles had reached their limit.

"We've never faced anything this powerful before." Pidge stated.

"One way or another, this may be our last battle. We've got to give it everything we've have. Dig deep and fight!" Shiro encouraged.

I front flipped us avoiding Zarkon as he flew by giving us room to charge at him.

"This is my time to reclaim the Black Lion. Nothing can stop me." Zarkon stated over the comm.

"We can!" I retaliated, and I received a very diabolical laugh as an answer.

"He's trying to control my lion. I can feel him in my head." Shiro grunted.

"Fight it Shiro!" Keith yelled.

"I'm won't let you lose your lion, this time you have me." I said and extended my mind towards him, linking us together. Zarkon was jabbing at his mind trying to cut Shiro's connection to Black. I counter attacked by pushing him back, I gave a load roar and mentally spit fire at him making him treat into his mind. We lunged forward stabbing our sword into his side, strangely no sound of pain came from him and he pushed us back, he used the black Bayard to create a chain that caught Voltron around its neck. He send an electric shock through it making us yell in pain.

"You should have fled like your predecessors. Now, the time of the Voltron Paladins is finished." Zarkon said.

The electric shock was so strong it split up back into lions, thankfully White was still operational.

"Is everyone alright?" I asked looking around as the other stabilized their lions.

"Shiro! Shiro! Somethings wrong with Shiro!" Keith yelled.

I looked to my right to see the Black Lion un-operational just floating is space, my blood ran cold at the sight. I reached my mind toward him, he was unconscious. He had taken most of the electric shock as the Bayard had wrapped around Voltron's neck.

"Paladins! We must prevent Zarkon from reaching the Black Lion." I ordered. Zarkon wasted no time in coming around for another attack. His battle mech broke pass Hunk and Pidge. Keith and I stood in front of Black blocking his path.

"Keep Zarkon away from the Black Lion!" Keith yelled.

"Come on, we can't give up!" Hunk yelled at Pidge as she floated of into space spinning from the impact.

"I'm running out of strength man." Lance said tiredly.

"We have to keep fighting. If we let Zarkon reach the Black Lion, it over." I said encouraging them. I let out a blast from White's jaws, he deflected it with his wings. Zarkon used the black Bayard once again like a whip, I was able to get out of the way just in time, but Lance took the hit and yelled out in pain. I shot at the arm holding the Bayard with White's jaws and tail until Zarkon let go of Blue. Pidge took the opportunity of Zarkon's distraction and summoned her vine cannon taking a shot at him. He just cut the vines off like they were nothing. Zarkon changed course toward me, I sped away as he used the Bayard once again as a chain, it was about to hit me when the Red Lion rammed into me pushing me out of the way and ended up receiving the impact.

"Keith!" I yelled. White roared and I moved my right handle forward letting out a white beam pushing Zarkon away as he was about to hit Keith again. Hunk was coming in to ram Zarkon, his back was towards me, so I moved to help him, but he punched the Yellow Lion like swatting a bug away and kicked behind him. His foot came up fast not giving me enough time to evade, hitting me head on. The alarms of my control panel began to blare, and the cockpit flashed red lights.

"Taylin!" Pidge cried.

I pulled at my handled trying to stabilize my lion, but we kept barreling backwards.

"I can't stop!"

"I got you!" Lance said coming up behind me, I crashed into him. We both yelled at the force of the impact as I almost flew off my seat but that seemed to have done the trick. I pushed my lion forward and she was finally available to fly in a straight-line.

"Thank you, Lance!" I said with gratitude.

The other Paladins charged at Zarkon but were swatted away, no one could get decent shot. I shot at him on full power hitting his back and pushing him away from the others giving them a small time to catch a break. He turned around to look at me with growl and began to come after me.

"You Drakie have been a pain on my side for far too long!"

My eyes widened as he charged and pushed on my handles activating my lower thrusters sending me upward.

"Zarkon really has it out for me." I muttered.

Just as Zarkon was about to hit me, the Black Lion passed through him with its wings extended. I had to blink a couple of times to make sure I had seen correctly.

"Shiro?" I asked.

"I'm here." He answered.

I grinned widely, "You don't know how happy I am to hear your voice."

"I think I can." His comment made my stomach flutter like small Drako hatchling wings.

"Whoa! What did you do?" Lance asked.

"I've got Zarkon's Bayard." Shiro answered.

"You mean you got your Bayard." Keith corrected.

I chuckled with happiness at the thought of seeing Shiro finally holding his Bayard like the rest of us. "Keith is right, you're the Black Paladin. You are its rightful wilder."

"We've only got a few minutes left before power returns to Zarkon's ship. Form Voltron!" Shiro ordered. Our lions began to come together and shift into their perspective places until we formed Voltron.

Static began to come from the comm and Coran's voice came through. "We're back!" He said with a laugh. "Hello, Paladins."

"Yeah!" We cheered glad to have whole team back.

"Your alive!" Hunk yelled.

"How's everyone doing in the castle? Storm, Allura, the Marmorans?" I asked quickly wanting to know more about our friend's state of being.

"Yeah, I'm fine! Don't worry guys!" Slav responded. No one said anything as our smiled faded into that of annoyance.

"Oh, great. Slav made it." Lance said with sarcasm.

Storm greeted me by flowing energy through are link to me, giving me more strength. I silently send him a thank you as our reunion was cut short. Zarkon was coming back around, I moved us into position and our swords clashed creating sparks from the impact. I moved us up a little giving Lance a chance to kick Zarkon back.

"Ha! Not so tough without the black Bayard." I taunted.

Not giving time for Zarkon to recover, we moved towards him and Keith punched him on the face.

"Guys! The power to Zarkon's ship is returning! We need to get out of here! I'm going to get Allura!" Coran said.

As Coran mobilized, we kept clashing again and again in and endless dance of death. The Green Lion shot at beam at Zarkon that send him tumbling back.

"This is our last chance! Let's finish this!" Shiro yelled.

I tighten my hands on my handles ready to move us forward and Keith pointed the sword at him. I moved us towards our adversary and Keith moved the sword skillfully being able to land a few blows and blocking Zarkon's counter attacks. We finally broke through Zarkon's guard and stabbed the sword on his side brining us eye to eye with the monster. Zarkon grabbed on to Voltron's head and send an electric current through us causing us to grunt in pain. Suddenly, Voltron's sword lit on fire, the Red and Green Lions stabbed the sword deeper into Zarkon's armor until it disappeared in him. We screamed as we yanked out the sword and backed away from him. Zarkon's armor began to glow and an electric current ran over him. His body shook, convulsing as he was electrocuted. His armor began to glow ever brighter until it exploded. The force of the explosion sent us flying back and disbanded us back into lions.

"Did we do it?" Lance asked breaking the silence.

"Is it over?" Hunk asked.

"I really hope it is." I said looking at were Zarkon floated off lined.

"I have Allura and Kolivan. We need to go!" Coran stated.

We followed Coran's instructions as we began to head back to the castle. Even though we had defeated the universe's greatest enemy, I could not help but to feel that something was terribly wrong.

"Shiro!" Keith yelled.

I stopped moving forward and turned around to see the Black Lion drifting lifeless into space. A million thoughts ran through my head as I worried for my mate's wellbeing.

"We need to tow him back onto the ship!" Pidge stated.

I moved towards the Black Lion and grabbed ahold of his left side while Keith took his right and began to carry him back to his hangar. "Allura, we are all back in the castle." I informed just as the last lion flew into its tunnel. She wasted no time and opened a wormhole moving us into it and closing it quickly behind us before any Galra could follow.

Back in the hangar, Keith and I set the Black Lion down slowly on its side and we landed our lions on each side of it. I jumped out of my seat and went to the platform that immediately lowered me down to the floor. The other Paladins and Allura all came rushing in as I ran to the entrance of the Black Lion. We opened the door to the cockpit and ran in only to find it empty with Shiro's Bayard still plugged in.

"What?" I said under my breath.

"Shiro?" Keith said confused.

"He's gone." Lance said unbelieving.

"This…this can't be." I said shocked as I continued to look at Shiro's empty seat.

My feet were glued to the floor and my body became heavy with dread. My body and mind could not handle any more pain. My vision became blurry and my strength failed me. I heard my name being yelled as someone grabbed my body before it hit the floor. Their voices sounded muffled like if I was under water and in a way, I was. I drowned in the ocean of darkness.

Thanks for reading!

Really hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter of season 2, but don't worry the story is not over yet. I posted the chapter a little bit earlier as my birthday is coming up this weekend and won't have time to do so.

Thanks for your lovely comments, I greatly appreciate it.

 _Akiko Crystal- "This last chapter was amazing! Dragons are my favorite and I was born in the year of the Dragon. Keep up the good work and remember that you have some really big fans. Also, one of my many nicknames is Draglyn."_


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

 **Changing of The Guard**

I never gave a second thought of how my life would be growing up. I always thought that my parents would be at my side for decades to come but does were just silly thoughts of a naive girl.

As a young child, I would run in the meadows with Storm at my side when we managed to sneak past our caretakers. The sun would shine upon our skins as we laughed and danced with the wind. The grass tickled my bare feet making me giggle like the innocent child I was.

Father use to take me up on hill top overlooking the Castle of Drakie and tell me that someday, I would rule over it like he did. Mother always told me that I would make a fine queen and anyone who had the opportunity to wed me, would be the luckiest man in the entire kingdom.

Those days were behind me, it was a period of safety and freedom were people could prosper and be whatever their heart's desired. In a way father was right, I would rule over people but not as queen but as a leader. A leader not only to Drakie but to so many different races. Mother was also right, I did meet my prince, which I fell in love the moment I set eyes on him. I tried to deny it so many times, fighting my heart every step of the way. In the end I surrendered, but now I'm left with this hole in my heart as he was taken from me too soon. He disappeared after our last battle with Zarkon without a trace.

I spend almost six days in a healing pod recuperating from my injuries. My wing's bone had mended to its rightful place, the quintessence taken from me was slowly returning, but my spirit was still broken. Allura, Coran, and Storm watched me like a lioness watching her cub, asking me if I was alright every time our paths crossed. I could hide it from Allura and Coran by putting a smile on my face, however, Storm knew better. One good thing did come of it, I had grown closer to the other Paladins. Pidge would come make me company when she found me sitting by myself and talk about things back on Earth, it fascinated me how our planets were so similar, yet so distinctive. Hunk would make special dishes just for me and say, "Food always makes people smile." Lance, well Lance will be Lance, he was always trying to get me to smile by coming up with hilarious "pickup lines" as Pidge called them. And Keith, we shared the same pain. Losing Shiro had been hard for him since he was the closes to him. We had found comfort in each other's company, sometimes just sitting side by side without uttering a word.

We continued freeing planets from Galra rule across the universe, people chanted the name Voltron with so much excitement and its name whispered in hope for does still being subjugated. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and we have kept busy helping the needy. Keith and I would often leave the castle while everyone else was ether eating or sleeping to continue the search for Shiro. I had hope that we would find him on one of the planets we had freed, but the frustration grew when we came back empty handed every time.

The other Paladins had looked up to me to lead them out in the field. Allura said being the Paladin of the White Lion meant that I was second in command. Five lions fought the renegade Galra forces, people were starting to wonder why they never seen Voltron. The Black Lion was still in its hangar laying down on its side, lifeless.

The others and I were in the lounge area as we rested from one of our freeing missions. I sat next to Pidge with my head resting on the seat's back and my hands folded on my stomach.

"They haven't figured out their flatbread situation, but what they do with those centipedes is just out if this world." Hunk said discussing the local's food.

"And they're totally ready to join the fight against the Galra." Lance added.

"Nice!" Pidge exclaimed with a smile.

"We brought back a few of their leaders to join the coalition." Hunk said looking at Allura.

"That's splendid. Excellent work!" She praised patting her hands together.

"You know, I gotta say," Lance began looking at his communication device, "This is what it's all about freein' the people, lovin' the ladies, then flying down the road again looking for adventure, Voltron style." He turned the screen of his device towards Pidge, I cached a glimpse of pictures he had taken with the local females.

"Which brings up a little issue." Hunk said, "They all want to see Voltron, only we don't really have Voltron anymore." Hunk's smile disappeared, my half smile turned into a frown as well.

"We don't have Shiro anymore, either. Everyone seems to have forgotten that." Keith stated at bit angry. It's not that the other Paladins and Alteans had forgotten about him, they just kept quiet about the subject when I was around, worried that they would make me upset. In a way they weren't wrong, every time someone mentioned his name my heart would ache, I didn't even think that was possible.

"Keith…it would be impossible to forget him." I said gaining the attention of the others as I had been quiet since we arrived.

"It may be difficult for us all to accept, but it is time to think about finding a new pilot for the Black Lion." Allura said, she looked at all five of us trying to read our faces, but it was clear, her comment shocked us.

"No!" Keith yelled standing up, "I'm gonna find him. Shiro is the one person who never gave up on me. I won't give up on him." He finished and left the room.

Everyone looked at the floor in sadness, a tear slid down my face involuntarily which I quickly wiped away before anyone could notice. I remembered the time we visited the Blade of Marmora headquarters for the first time. Shiro had mentioned that he had chosen Keith as his successor incase anything happened to him.

 _Did he know what would happen?_ I asked myself but had no answer.

If it was Shiro's wish to have Keith as the head of Voltron, then I wouldn't object. He had potential, he just can't see it. The only "but" here, was if the Black Lion would accept him and if it did, who would pilot the Red Lion? So many questions needed to be answered, but the universe insisted on keeping me in the dark.

The other Paladins began to dismiss themselves as they went to get ready for the diner tonight with the leaders of the current planet we were on. Only Allura remained behind, she went around the couch and sat next to me, I still looked at the floor. She placed a hand on my shoulder and for once she did not ask the typical question, "Come Taylin, we must get ready for the diner tonight." We stood up and headed towards the exit, silently heading to our rooms until Allura broke it, "It's going to be strange putting on a dress."

Her comment brought a smile to my face and a light chuckle escaped my lips.

"Yeah, I practically live in my Paladin armor." She laughed and smiled widely, "I'm happy to see you smiling, it's a good look on you."

"It does feel nice to smile for a change." I said as we came to stop at my door.

"I'll see you soon." Allura said and she kept walking down the hall towards her chambers. I turned to look at the doors across the hall, half expecting Shiro to just come out and tell me everything was going to be alright. I took a deep breath, I knew he would not like to see me frowning all the time.

"I will find you Shiro and bring you back. Even if it takes me ten thousand years more." I whispered to the doors and with that I made my way into my room. I took a quick shower, scrubbing away the sweat from the day and walked into my closet. I just stuck my hand in the rack and pulled out the first dress my hand touched. It was a simple red dress but still elegant with long sleeves. It skirt was longer on the back and the front reached the top of my knees. I decided to leave my hair down in its natural waves after drying it completely and placed my tiara around my forehead. I placed plain golden flat shoes on my feet and applied a bit of makeup, looked at myself in the mirror and left my room. The tail of my dress trailed behind me as I made my way towards the dining room. Allura met up with me before entering, "Where are the other Paladins?" I asked.

"They are already inside waiting for us." She informed.

We walked in with all gazes on us as we made our way to our seats, I ended up sitting towards the end, at a corner, next to Allura. The other Paladins still had their armor on, it seemed Allura and I were the only once that changed from our battle attires. The Marmorans stood of to the side not wanting to take part in our diner.

Allura stood up, "It is our honor to have you all here together." She greeted.

"I had the biggest bunker back on Puig, but it wasn't nearly this nice." The leader from Puig said admiring the dining room.

"Well, I spent the last decade sleeping in a spiny thistle thicket. You look wonderful though, Princess. I'm glad I put on my best tarp." Another one said, Allura smiled at them.

Just then Hunk came in with dishes of food interrupting the awkward conversation, "Welcome, everyone. Welcome. I've prepared a few Earth canapés for our distinguished guest to enjoy while we talk galactic diplomacy." He said setting down the plates in the middle of the table.

"The Blade of Marmora has gathered this intelligence. As you can see, the Galra Empire is still the most massive ruling force the universe has ever seen. The sheer size of it is almost incomprehensible. It seems like it could rule another ten thousand years." Kolivan stated as a hologram of the universe appeared before us. The leaders looked at Kolivan with distrust and one of them almost chocked on his food at the sound of his ruff voice. It would take some time before civilizations around the universe realized that not all Galra were vile as Zarkon portrayed them to be for the past ten thousand years, The Blade of Marmora and Keith were proof of that.

"Not the way I would have started this pep talk, but okay." I heard Lance whisper.

I decided that it would be best to take the attention away from the Galra, so I stood up.

"That might be true, but we are beginning to see signs of increased rebel activity from within the Empire." I said as I waved my hand over the hologram turning some spots that were once purple into blue. The three leaders looked at the map in shock and gasped not believing that after so long, people actually were starting to rebel. "We have a plan to not only free planets from the Empire but bring people together willing to fight at our side. There is a lot of work to do, we alone cannot undue what has been thousands of years in the making. We need to grow in numbers to be able to stand against the Empire's forces." I continued with confidence.

"Without your help, it will be impossible." Allura persuaded.

The female leader of the three spoke up, "The forces will all fight behind Voltron, right?"

"Yes, where is Voltron?" Another one asked.

"The-the people you see before you are the Paladins of Voltron." Allura said trying to draw their attention away from the subject. A silence settled in the room, Hunk who was stuffing his face stopped mid bite at Allura's comment and raised his hand. Keith who sat beside me crossed his arms with a frown and refused to look away from the table's surface. Pidge fiddled with her glasses and Lance flirted with the female leader with a grin. Seeing this I turned back quickly to look at the leaders and gave them a sheepish grin.

"Together, they pilot the mighty lions that form the great warrior." Allura added.

"Excellent! Can they form Voltron now?" The leader from Puig asked.

"Un, well- "Allura began but was cut short by Keith.

"We can't form Voltron, Okay?" He said raising his voice at the leaders, they looked at him in shock.

"What he means is that right now they can't do it, but- "Allura tried again to come up with an excuse but Keith was not having it.

"But nothing. Shiro is gone. He was the Black Lion, and until we find him, there is no Voltron." His voice was laced with anger and annoyance.

 _Well that escalated quickly._ I thought.

"The lions are still substantial fighting force and this castle is also a considered weapon. The Blade of Marmora can lead you." Kolivan said trying to fix the situation.

"My people have been enslaved for centuries by soldiers who look exactly like you." The female leader retaliated.

"Yes! Our people have heard the legend of Voltron. How he defeated Zarkon. That is what gave them hope. What are we suppose to tell them now?" The Puig leader asked.

Keith finally had enough and slammed his fist on the table. "Tell them to stand up and fight for themselves! Voltron is gone!" He yelled in range and stood up abruptly to leave the room.

Keith wasn't wrong, if people had started to revel again Zarkon so many years ago, his empire would have not grown so large. But, I could also see the point of view of the people, they were so afraid to stand up, scared that Zarkon's forces would obliterate them from the face of the universe.

"Voltron is not just one person." I began, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "He is made up of six different people who fight for one common goal. We are here to help fight the Galra with what we have. Voltron cannot disband the empire alone, so please, reconsider to offer of joining are coalition. Put all your fears aside and fight for freedom."

The leaders looked at me and said nothing, they just sat there blinking their eyes. I sighed and looked down at the table. "If you'll excuse me, I must take my leave." I turned around without looking at anyone to go find Keith. I searched for him with my mind, but he was nowhere to be found inside the castle.

" _Keith left on the Red Lion."_ Storm informed.

 _"We need to go after him."_

I felt confusion emanating from his thoughts, _"Is something the matter?"_

 _"I'll tell you on the way. Now, where are you?"_

Storm send me an image of his location, he was resting on a cliff not too far from the castle, sun bathing. I quickly made my way to the exit and lowered myself to the ground in a pod. Storm stood at a distance, his scales glittering in the daylight; he was his full size.

 _"I'm going to go on a limb here and guess that the meeting did not go as planned."_

 _"I won't argue with you there. Keith kind of lashed out at them after they insisted on us forming Voltron."_

 _"Oh."_ Storm responded in realization. Like everyone else, he knew that Keith did not have the best temper.

When I reached him, he lowered his body to the ground and wrapped his tail around my waits lifting up and onto his back. His scales felt warm to the touch after spending a varga under the shining rays that were slowly fading behind the mountains. Storm placed an invisible force over the bottom half of my body keeping in place as to not fall of his back during flight. I grabbed ahold of my dress and tucked it tightly underneath my thighs. Storm turned around and headed back towards the edge of the cliff until he front talons stuck out into the air, curled them, and pounced into the air. Many of the locals looked up shocked when Storm's shadows passed over them. They pointed their fingers at us as we flew by, I waved my hand at them just to assure them that Storm meant no danger to him. Many of the locals were still hesitant of him, which was one of the reason why Storm felt better off on the cliff.

The wind blew my hair behind me as Storm flapped his wings with forces sending us through the sky even quicker. He used the air currents to lift him up even higher and waist less energy flapping his wings. He banked left to the East of the castle's location, in the distance, on top of ledge high in one of the mountains, was the Red Lion sitting on his hind legs looking over the sky. I was relieved that Keith did not set out to do something stupid.

Keith stood with his back to us looking down the mountain with his arms crossed. He had taken of his helmet and his medium length hair ruffled in the wind. Storm flapped his wings rapidly as he was about to land causing Keith to turn startled by the sudden noise. Storm's landing sounded like a boulder hitting the surface of the mountain, his talons made scrapping resonances as he came to a stop.

 _"Stay here, I'll go talk to him."_

Storm mentally nodded and placed me down on the ground. He set his head down on the floor curling his neck towards his body to give us more privacy to talk even though he could hear the conversation as clear as the howling wind. My dress flew behind me like a scarlet cape, I silently hoped that the wind would maintain its course keeping my dress in place.

"What are you doing here?" Keith asked confused when I approached him.

"What does it seem like. Looking for you obviously."

I came to a stop beside him looking down at the great abyss.

"You didn't have to come." He said crossing his arms again, a signature pose for him.

"You left so abruptly, everyone was startled by your sudden outburst."

He took a deep breath, "Well I had my reasons, and you know exactly what they are."

I looked at him studying his face and gazed into his purple eyes.

"It's not the idea of Shiro being missing that is bothering you, it's the thought of having to choose a new Paladin for the Black Lion."

He began to speak trying to deny it, but I raised my hand to stop him, "Don't try to deny it Keith, I can see it written in your eyes."

He sighed and looked down at the floor, he kicked a rock near his right foot and send it over the ledge. "I don't want to take Shiro's place, be pilot the Black Lion, or lead Voltron. I'm just-I'm just not good enough to lead. Shiro made it look so easy. He was a natural."

I placed a hand on his left shoulder, "You cannot expect to be the same as Shiro, every leader has their own way of leading. Leadership does not come easy, its process of learning from one's successes and failures."

"Maybe you should be the new pilot of the Black Lion." He said raising his head to look at me.

"That's not my choice to make. And even if it did choose me, I think we would have a bigger problem on our hands trying to find someone to pilot the White Lion."

"Fix one problem, you get another." He muttered.

"Stop beating yourself up and learn to see the greatness in you. I see it and have faith in you, so did Shiro."

His lips formed a half smile, "I don't know why you keep insisting, I'm a lost cause. My past is a mystery, I don't even know who I am."

"You Keith Kogane, are a Paladin of Voltron. Your past does not define who you are now because you have the ability to change the present, wasn't that what unlocked your blade."

"I guess so."

"Then believe in your own words, that's the first step to becoming a leader."

He smiled at me, then looked down at the ground, "You know, you're the only one other than Shiro who I can open up to."

I placed my hand on my heart and formed a playful shocked face, "Well, I am honored." My actions caused a small chuckle from him. "Well my job here is done, I made you smile. We should get back to the castle."

He nodded his head in agreement and looked at me, "You flew up here in a dress, how you manage that?"

"It's another one of my secret powers." I whispered to him.

"Would you like a ride." He said with a smirk.

"I thought you never ask."

Storm uncurled his neck and raised his head from the ground until he was towering over us. _"I will see you back at the castle."_ He said and leaped off from the cliff. Keith and I made our way to the Red Lion and he piloted us back into his hangar. Something in my gut told me, it would be the last time Keith piloted him. I just hoped that the Black Lion respected Shiro's wishes and Keith accepted the responsibility.

The Black Lion looked dead on the floor with no intention of ever getting up. I was so used to seeing him sitting on its hind legs looking like the king of the pride, but now it hurt to just glance at it. Everyone had joined us in the hangar, I was back in my Paladin armor. I felt relieved to be out of the dress, I had become so accustomed to my armor that it was almost like a second skin.

Keith stood beside me in front of the Black Lion looking at it with sadness. The others were behind us feeling the same way as well, scared for the uncertainty of the situation, I could sense it in the air.

Lance moved to stand closer to us, "Hey man, listen. We all miss Shiro. I remember what a thrill it was to meet him for the first time when the two of us carried him out of that Garrison hospital." He said looking at the deactivated lion.

"I grew up with my dad and Matt telling me stories about him. He was a legend at our house." Pidge said coming forward with Hunk.

"The guy taught me everything I know about being a pilot. Which isn't much, but that's more on me." Hunk said.

"We are all hurting Keith. And we are all here for you, but I believe it's time to move on. Shiro would have wanted that." I said finally coming to that realization myself.

"Keith, I know exactly how you feel. But our mission is bigger than any one individual. Even those who are completely irreplaceable." Allura assured him.

"I know, you're right. It's time to figure out how to reform Voltron." Keith said.

I walked up to the Black Lion to place my hand on its snout, silently pleading it would choose one of us.

Thanks for Reading!

Hope you all had amazing day!

Sorry I took so long to upload, I have been sick since last week and couldn't even look at a computer screen. I was about to go back to good old fashion pen and paper, jk.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

 **Red Paladin**

We all sat in the lounge room thinking of a way to proceed in choosing the new pilot of the Black Lion. I rubbed my temple with the tip of my fingers thinking of a solution to our problem. The best I could come up with was finding Shiro and bringing him back to lead Voltron; deep down I knew it wasn't an idea, but a desire.

 _Shiro why did you have to leave?_ _I thought sadly_ _._

"I wish Shiro were here to tell us how to go on without him." Lance said.

"I agree with you." I said with a sad smile.

"Taylin, when we came here, you told me I would fly the Green Lion and I thought there was no way. But then, I found it and I flew it. And then, Hunk flew the Yellow Lion and he's not even a pilot. In fact, you and Allura told everyone who would pilot which lion." Pidge said.

"Yeah, how did you do that? Did we ever find out how you did that? Can you do that now?" Hunk asked in a pleading tone.

"Sadly no, when you arrived at the castle, we immediately recognized the special qualities in each of you." Allura answered.

"You were all very easy to read," I began, "But this is a totally different situation. We don't know how to search the universe for another Paladin, let alone someone who can pilot the head of Voltron, but something I do know, it's that the Black Lion is the one to take that decision."

"Keith, you piloted the Black Lion when you had to save Shiro. Perhaps you're the one." Coran stated.

Coran had a point, no one else had been able to pilot the Black Lion but him, it listened to him. On the other hand, there was Allura. Who knows, maybe the Black Lion chose her.

"Keith would be the worst leader of Voltron." Lance retaliated.

I gave him a glare that quickly shut him up before he could make another unpleasant comment.

"Yeah, we all have our thing." Pidge said as she began to point us out. "Keith's the loner. I'm the brain." She continued pointing at herself with her thumb, "Hunk's the nice one." Hunk smiled at her comment. "Allura's the decision maker." Allura's cheeked turned a bit pink and turned away. "Coran's the wise old guy." He stood taller, proud of himself. "Taylin is the strategist." She said pointing at me and I gave her a small smile. "And Lance is the goofball."

Lance smiled widely, "Mmhm. Yeah, exactly. Totally right." His grin vanished when he realized what she had just said. "Wait a minute, I'm not a goofball!" He retaliated crossing his arms. "I'm like the cool ninja sharpshooter."

His comment made Keith scoff and roll his eyes in annoyance. "Are you joking?"

"I'm being completely serious when I say, I do not want you to lead me anywhere." Lance stated.

"I don't want to be the leader! That's just what Shiro wanted!" Keith snapped, he bowed his head to look at the floor.

"What are you talking about?" Hunk asked.

"Nothing." Keith muttered still not raising his eyes.

"Shiro wanted you to be his successor, didn't he?" Pidge asked finally understanding.

"Well, I never heard Shiro say that, and how convenient that you're bringing it up now, when Shiro is gone." Lance stated.

"Lance-" I began but Keith cut me off.

"You want the job so badly, you can have it." He growled back glaring at Lance with intensity.

"Now, now, hang on. I've called the head from the very beginning." Hunk said.

"What about me? I picked up on the radio waves that led us to Voltron in the first place." Pidge stated as a matter of fact.

"Guys," I said raising my voice. "Arguing is not going to help us. And Lance, I'll have you know that Keith is telling the truth." I gained everyone's attention. "I was there when Shiro told him, and he confirmed it to me."

It seemed like my comment only made matters worse, everyone began to speak at once fighting over who would be the next leader of Voltron.

"Hold your gazurgas, everyone!" Coran exclaimed stopping our argument. "It's not our decision to make. We must allow the lion to decide."

"Coran is right." Allura agreed. "We must all present ourselves to the Black Lion to see who will bear this glorious burden."

"What? You Princess?" Lance asked shocked.

"My father was one of the creators of Voltron. How can I allow others to risk their lives in battle and not be prepared to do so myself? I must try." And with Allura's last comment the room became silent. We stood up without another word headed towards the Black Lion's hangar.

We stood in front of the Black Lion ready in our armor as if we were going into battle. The great beast had to make a decision today, there was no coming back. Everyone looked upon it with nervousness, but the lion did not seem to acknowledge our presence.

"So, who goes first?" Hunk asked.

"Should we draw straws?" Pidge suggested.

"Maybe by who's the tallest? Coran already has us ranked by height." I suggested.

"I have it! I'm thinking of a number between one and fifty!" Coran exclaimed. "Allura, you go first, Taylin is second, and then the others."

"Wait, don't we get to guess the number?" Lance asked.

"But I already know the number." Coran stated clearly not understanding how the game worked.

"Allura, just go." Lance said turning away from us.

She lifted her head high and proceed towards the Black Lion, but its snout was still shut.

"How's she gonna get in?" Hunk whispered.

"Nirma." I said under my breath, speaking the ancient language of my people. The lion obeyed and opened its mouth letting Allura pass.

"What did you say?" Pidge asked fascinated.

"I ordered it to open its mouth in the Drakie's ancient language."

"Oh, can you teach me?" The others looked at me while I continued to look ahead.

"Only a few were able to use the language to direct their powers. My mother was an expert in the art and taught me everything she knew. Sadly, the language only has power if it is spoken by a Drakie with a deep connection to the elements around him or her."

"Well excuse me for being human." Pidge retorted.

I looked down at her rising my eyebrows at her attitude. "Don't take it the wrong way Pidge, I can teach you the language, but I don't know if you would be able to make things happen with it."

She sighed, "Sorry, just got carried away."

"Don't worry about it, we all do." Just when I finished my comment, Allura came out of the Black Lion looking a bit stumped that the lion had not chosen her. She came up to me and place her right hand on my shoulder, "It's your turn." I nodded my head and began to walk towards the mouth of the lion. Storm made his presence known by giving me a metal hug, showing his support. I walked up the ramp to the entrance of the cockpit and stopped. It looked so lifeless and dim, the only light came through the lion's eyes from the hangar. I took a deep breath and proceed to the pilot's chair slowly. I ran my right hand over the top of the seat until I came around and sat on it. The height and controls were very similar to White's since they almost had the same height, only White was slimmer. My hands were in my lap still hesitant on placing them on the handles, controls that once had Shiro's warmth. In a way, I envied the Black Lion, he got to spend more time with Shiro than I ever did.

"Where is Shiro?…You must know? I command you to tell me." My words caused no effect, not even a small flicker of the control panel. I moved my hands to place them on the controls and gripped the handles as I closed my eyes. "If you choose me, I am ready to carry the responsibility, but I understand if you do not deem me worthy of your trust. Your mate, Nimawe, trusted me. Let that count for something. I beg you to at least give me a glimpse of where to start looking for Shiro. This is a vast universe and I need your help to find him." I silent tear slid down my cheek, it made a small tapping noise when it hit my leg. The Black Lion was silent, preferring to keep to himself. I got up a bit irritated, I had nothing to do here anymore, so I stomped my way out. Once the others came into view, I let go of my anger not wanting them to see it. The only one who registered it was Storm, his tail twitched side to side and his legs were bended as if ready to pounce on the lion.

"Your next Pidge." She gave me a slight smile and ran into the lion's mouth.

 _"What happened in there?"_ Stormed asked.

 _"The lion refused to even give me a clue of where to start looking for Shiro."_

 _"I can always get it out of him."_ He suggested, still with a hint of anger in his aura.

 _"No Storm, let it go. I just had a moment of weakness and let my anger take over me."_

He began to let of that feeling too, _"We'll find a way to narrow down the places to look for him."_ He assured with confidence; I was glad for his presence.

Pidge came out of the lion and told Hunk it was his turn. Not even twenty ticks went by when Hunk came out speed walking out of the lion's head.

"What are you doing? You didn't even try." Coran scolded.

"Yes, I did. I sat down." Hunk retorted and faced away from him. The other Paladins had grown attached to their lions, I guessed Hunk didn't want to leave the Yellow Lion. Hunk confirmed my thoughts, "I don't want to leave the Yellow Lion, okay? I mean, it's big, it's got this super armor, its safe."

"But you called the head." Coran said.

"Yeah, I know. I wanted to form the head with the Yellow Lion." We stared at him until it was too uncomfortable for him and he gave in. "Fine." He dropped his shoulders and went back inside. From inside the lion's head came muffled shouting, it seemed like Hunk was having a bit of fun pretending to be leader.

"Alright, you're not the one. Out of the lion." Coran commanded.

Lance went in next a bit too excited, confident that he would be chosen, time passed, and he still wouldn't come out.

"So, how long are we gonna let Lance sit in there?" Hunk asked.

"It's been easily more than thirty ticks." I said.

 _"Maybe he fell asleep?"_ Storm joined in.

After what seemed like forever, Lance finally came out with a look of pure disappointment. He took off his helmet, place it on the ground to sit on it.

"It's useless, the Black Lion hates all of us." He said pouting.

"You haven't given it a go." I said pointing at Coran.

"What? Me? Nah." He brushed it off. "If the Red Lion ran away from me, I don't think the Black one will let me pilot it."

"Keith, the Black Lion hasn't responded to any of us. You have to try." Allura said.

Everyone looked at him and he sighed finally giving in. He walked towards the lion like the others and stood before it. I inter-winded my hands together and brought them close to my face until they touched my lips.

 _Please choose Keith. Honor your previous Paladin's wishes._ I pleaded.

Suddenly the lion's yellow eyes turned on and it lifted itself off the ground as if it had heard my prayers. Keith gasped, "Please, no." The Black Lion stood up to its full height and gave out a thundering roar. It looked down at Keith and lowered its head to the ground opening its jaws for him to enter.

"Keith's going to pilot us into our deaths in two minutes." Lance commented.

"I'm proud of you Keith. I wish you were getting the job under better circumstances, but congratulations." Allura said.

I walked up to him to place a hand on his shoulder, "I'm happy we have a leader now. I promise to be at your side every step of the way to guide you in the right direction."

"Congratulations, Keith." Pidge said.

"Yeah man, ditto." Hunk added.

"No, I don't accept this." Keith said making everyone in the room gasp.

"You must, the Black Lion has chosen you." Allura stated.

"I can't replace Shiro!" He said moving away from me. "You guys were right. I'm the loner. I'm not the leader Shiro thought I was."

"Keith, no one can replace Shiro. But the Black Lion wouldn't choose anybody it didn't feel was worthy to lead Voltron. I respect its choice, and you should too." Lance said putting a hand on Keith shoulder. I was very surprised at Lance's change of heart.

Keith turned to look at the Black Lion preoccupied, "But who's gonna fly the Red Lion?"

"Maybe it's time for you Allura, to follow in your father's footsteps." I said gaining her attention.

"I don't know, Taylin." She said hesitant.

"None of that insecurity." I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the exit of the hangar. "Come, it does not hurt to try."

"Do you really believe the Red Lion will accept me?"

"Well I think it should. We are our father's daughters, replicas of themselves they left behind. If White chose me to succeed my father, then you too were meant to be a Paladin."

Allura pulled my hand stopping me from moving any further down the hallway.

"You truly believe that?"

"Yes-yes I do. Nothing would give me more confidence than to fight alongside you." I took both her hands in mine. "You and I, Allura. We are meant to stick together, gosh we were almost born at the same time. I won by just a few quintants. Sadly, I have no other siblings, but the universe gave me a sister of the heart."

"Oh, Tay." She let go of my hands to give me a bone crushing hug.

"Allura…please don't break me." I said in between breaths.

She let go of me and placed her hands behind her back with a grin. "Sorry."

"Come on then." I waved her over to follow me. It wasn't long before we stood before the Red Lion's hangar doors. "I'll wait for you here, go on." She nodded her head and disappeared into the hangar.

Many ticks went by and I was starting to become anxious, so I began to pace. I began to wonder what Allura was doing in there, an urge to run inside went through me. I stopped mid track and took a deep breath. I heard the doors to the hangar open, so I turned around, but it was not what I was expecting to see. Allura's eyes were glossed over and she looked terribly upset.

"Hey…" I said going to her to comfort her. I really believed that the Red Lion would choose her, how wrong had I been.

"Its eyes didn't even flicker."

"You are still a very important part of this team Allura, don't let that bring you down." I rubbed circles on her back.

Coran appeared from around the corner and from the look of Allura's face, he understood what had happened. "I'm sorry, Princess. I know how much you wanted to pilot the Red Lion." Allura pulled away from my hug to rub her eyes of any tears and straightened her posture.

"I'm fine. Let's move on. We must find a new Paladin…again."

Once again back in the lounge room, sitting around and thinking what we were going to do. Keith was right, we fix a problem, but we get another.

"A new Paladin? I mean, where would we even start looking?" Pidge asked.

"Well, I vote for getting some alien diversity of the team, and I know some cool mermaids who could be good at it." Lance said.

Hunk looked at him annoyed, "You just want to see them again."

"Yeah, exactly." Lance answered with a smirk.

"How about those Blade guys?" Hunk suggested.

"Or the Olkari." Pidge said excited.

"Maybe one of the Trinderians." I said thinking of Lanex.

The screen in the lounge room began to flicker, the Puig leader appeared with a look of distress. "Voltron, we need your help. The Galrans have returned. Once you left, we were defenseless. My people are trying to hold out, but the Galra are too powerful."

Allura quickly stood up followed by me and Coran, "The lions are on their way. Hold your ground and protect your people until we arrive." She responded. "Voltron stands with you."

"Thank you, Princess." The Puig leader said a bit relieved.

Just when the transmission ended, we began to mobilize to get into our lions. I ran into my hangar and immediately White placed her right paw forward and lowered her head for me to enter. I had a strange feeling in my chest as this would be the first time Keith led us into battle. I believed in his capacity to get things done, but he could also be a bit impulsive at times. The time I have spent with him had allowed me to have a better understanding of his personality, and he had showed me another side to him others didn't know about.

"Paladins prepare the launch." Allura's voice broke my strain of thought.

I moved my lion into the launch pad, soon were flying through space.

"Alright guys, we're not about to let the Galra take back this planet, so follow me." Keith instructed shooting forward.

"Right behind you." I said with a smile. My lion detected the other Paladins following close behind.

"Where's Lance?" Pidge asked.

"What?" Keith asked confused.

As I looked closer on my screen, the Blue Lion was no we're not be seen.

"Lance, what happened? Why haven't you launched?" I asked.

"My lion's not responding to me." Lance said in distress.

"What?" Now it was my turn to be confused.

"Well, figure it out and catch up with us as soon as you can." Keith ordered.

I thought it would be best to go in with all the lions, but the people of Puig were waiting on us to save them, so I didn't comment of Keith's course of action. At the speed we were flying, the planet quickly came into view. Suddenly, a ship came out of the blue, Galra fighters began to come out from underneath it. "Attention, Paladins of Voltron. This is Prince Lotor, son of Zarkon, Emperor Pro Team of the Galra Empire. Surrender now, or you will be destroyed." A male with a heavy accent spoke.

"We've been set up!" Pidge exclaimed coming to the realization that this was a trap.

"Take evasive maneuvers!" I ordered moving out of the way of incoming Galra fighters.

"Everyone, watch your backs!" Keith yelled.

I began to shoot fighters down with my lion's tail and clawing at does who got to close.

"I didn't even now Zarkon had a son." I muttered under my breath.

Pidge and Hunk began to panic as more fighter began to come out of the main ship. Lots of screaming came from Hunk's comm.

"Keep it together guys!" I told them.

"Pidge, behind you!" Hunk warned, he came to the rescue by crashing onto the fighter behind Pidge.

"I hope your super armor holds up, buddy boy." Hunk spoke to his lion.

"Where's Keith?!" Pidge asked.

I turned around to see the Black Lion moving towards the edge of the fight with two Galra fighters hot on its tail.

"Guys, I'm having trouble here. These controls don't respond like the Red Lion's. I need some help." Keith said.

"I'm right behind you, keep evading their shots." I said moving to follow the Black Lion.

"Steady, steady. Fire!" I pushed my right handle forward sending a beam through White's jaws obliterating the two fighters. Keith came around towards me, but he did not seem to be slowing down. I quickly moved out of the way before he could impact on me.

"Keith!"

"Sorry, I'm still getting use the controls." He apologized.

"There's too many for the four of us." Hunk said.

"Look out!" Pidge warned covering me from an incoming shot with her lion's shield.

"Why isn't Lance here yet?! Lance, we need you out here now!" I yelled into the comm.

"Lance, what's wrong?" Pidge asked wondering the same thing as me, but he did not respond.

"Keith, what should we do?" Hunk asked.

"We need to attack the ship." Keith answered.

"Um, I don't think that's a good idea with just four lions." I said eyeing the massive amounts of Galra fighters blocking the path to the main ship.

"Can you be more specific?" Pidge asked, "We need an actual plan."

"Hey Tay, can you create a big enough power surge to give us some room to breathe?" Hunk asked.

"I'm not sure, ever since our battle with Zarkon, my powers have not been the same. My control of them has slipped, I don't want to run the risk of them controlling me." The last time I had tried to use my powers, a small flame snapped at me. I had to really concentrate on letting go of the flame before it extended up my arm.

The main ship suddenly fired its ion cannon grazing the Black Lion, he went spinning out of control.

"Keith!" I yelled seeing my friend lose control of his lion.

"I'm ok, but we can't fight this guy alone." Keith grunted finally being able to stabilize the lion.

"You're right, we need the other lions." I said.

Just then from my right side I noticed the Red Lion flying towards us.

"You won't have to." Lance said as the Red Lion left a trail of explosions. The castle also came into view and fired at the Galra ship.

"Need some help?" Coran asked as he shot down more Galra fighters with the castle's defenses.

"Like you need to ask." I said relived, "Paladins, we need to draw the Galra ship's attention away from the castle before it can fire its ion cannon again." I moved in front of the castle taking down as many fighters as I could with Whites jaw blade. "Spread out in front of the castle, don't let them surround you. Make it harder for them to hit you." I ordered. "Don't distance yourself too much Lance." I said watching him move like a red blur.

"Whoo-hoo! Boy, this lion can move!" Lanced yelled excitedly.

"Hey! Be careful with Red." Keith scolded.

"Oh, fly your own lion Keith." Lance shot back turning to face Black and flying backwards which only resulted in him crashing on a Galra fighter. We all looked at the Red Lion twirling away, "I meant to do that!"

I sighed and mentally face palmed.

"Wow, we're really kind of a mess." Pidge stated, "We need to get organized. Keith, what should we do?"

"I don't know." He responded, "We need to form Voltron, but we're short a lion."

"Not anymore." Allura's voice came over the comm, I turned to my right to see the Blue Lion approaching the battle.

"Allura?!" I asked shocked.

"It's me."

I practically almost jumped out of my seat at my excitement, Allura was now a Paladin. "I told you Allura! You we're cut out to be a Paladin."

"Yes! Awesome!" Hunk yelled.

The main ship stopped firing and began to retreat after the appearance of the Blue Lion.

 _Strange._ I thought.

The ships began to depart at light speed until there was not a single one in sight.

"We did it!" Lance yelled.

"I meant, it was a little touch and go there for a second, but, yeah, we made it." Hunk said.

"Allura, you and the Blue Lion? How cool is that?" Pidge said.

"Yes! This is amazing! I'm so relieved to have all the lions back together." I said with a smile.

"Yes. It was a bit of a surprise, but a happy one." She responded.

"Now, we know that Zarkon has a son." Keith said interrupting our small celebration.

"This is…deeply disturbing." Allura said.

"He appears to have taken command of the Empire now that his father is gone, we need to find out all we can about him." I said looking at the spot they had disappeared.

I walked close to Allura headed towards the Blue Lion's hangar, she wore a Paladin armor with pink accents. It was her way of honoring does who came before us. When we entered, Lance was standing in front of the Blue Lion gazing up at it. He turned around when he heard the doors closed, I stayed a bit behind allowing them some privacy to talk. Lance looked a bit upset of having lost Blue, this change had been hard for everyone. Coran's voice came over the castle's speakers startling us, "Princess! The Black Lion is leaving the castle!"

"Keith, where are you going?" Allura asked.

"I put a tracker on Lotor's ship. Tell everyone to get their lions. We're going after 'em." He answered.

"We can't just go after him without knowing more information about him, Keith." I retaliated a bit annoyed at his rashness.

"You wanted me to lead Voltron? This is how I lead."

"That bone head, what does he think he's doing. His going to get himself killed." I muttered placing my helmet in place.

"Taylin." Keith began, "You still have your comm on."

"Quiznak." I said under my breath and cut communications until I reached my lion.

Thanks for Reading!

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	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

 **The Hunted**

Everyone had rushed to their lions to catch up with our leader, who had launched unexpectedly ordering us to follow him. I was still a bit annoyed at his rashness, and I knew, he knew that. We had not spoken a word to each other since back in the Blue Lion's hangar.

"Their cruiser's location is on the other side of the upcoming planet. According to stats and velocity projections, we should be within range in about one varga." I said motoring Lotor's ship and our current location.

"Good, hold position." Keith said.

Everything was going fine until the Blue Lion lost control and crashed onto the Yellow Lion. "Oh, apologies, Hunk!" Allura said.

"Mm, is attacking right now such a good idea? You know, since not everyone is so great with their lions?" Hunk asked.

"Do you mean me, specially?" Allura asked.

"You? No." Hunk said a bit sarcastic. "No way, I didn't. I'm just simply pointing out that more than half of the team are in new lions. Maybe now's not a great time to bite off more than we can chew."

"You can blame our hot-headed leader for that one." Lance stated, and for once, I agreed with him.

"First, you want me to lead, and then you complain about how I do it. Prince Lotor is the heir to the Galra throne. We could end their reign right now." Keith said.

The Red Lion zoomed ahead to fly next to Yellow and Blue.

"Allura, you doin okay in Blue?" Lance asked.

"I'm fine. I've been flying the castle for half my life. I just need a few ticks to adjust to the lion."

"Good…because we're going in." Keith stated.

"Uh, I have a bad feeling about this." I said as we got closer to the planet.

"I'm detecting movement." Keith said.

"So much for the element of surprise." Lance complained.

"It's just one single fighter." Hunk stated, "Where's the rest of them?"

"Probably scrambling as we speak." Keith answered. "Let's take it out."

A small grey and blue ship appeared from around the planet flying full speed towards us. Lance seeing this, tried to move out of the way quickly but misjudged his speed, he ended up nocking into the Black Lion.

"Lance, what are you doing?" Keith grunted.

"Sorry! Red here is a lot faster than I'm used to." Lance apologized. "Uh, where that fighter go?"

Lance's actions distracted us from the incoming enemy, we barely had any time to evade when the ship began to fire. The small ship seemed to be concentrating its fire on the Black Lion, Keith took evasive maneuvers, but he could not shake him.

"Come on, move!" Keith yelled at Black. "I can't shake him. Someone get this guy off my tail."

"Coming in on your six." Pidge said as we moved towards them at full speed and began to fire. The fighter quickly moved out the way and our laser fire hit the Black Lion.

"Cease fire!" I ordered.

"What 'a hell Taylin!" Keith yelled at me.

"My apologies, on my defense, I was trying to shoot the ship!" I shot back.

Suddenly, the Red Lion passed inches away in front of the Black Lion out of control, "Seriously, does this thing have brakes?!" Lance yelled.

The small ship was too fast, it kept coming in and out, making small attacks at the Black Lion. Whoever was the pilot, he or she was an astute one. Allura moved forward trying to get a decent shot at it but it easily evaded her, in front of her was the Yellow Lion.

"Allura! Allura!" Hunk yelled panicked.

They crashed into each other and nearly hit the Red Lion.

"Whoa! What's up with this guy? He's playing us against ourselves." Lance said.

I moved White to chase after the small ship, shooting at it with her mouth's laser cannon. He evaded each and every one of my shots. I growled in frustration, "This can only be the Prince."

"Ow, Allura, you okay over there?" Hunk asked.

"I'm fine, but these controls are not responding, not like the castle." Allura answered. "What's wrong with you, lion? Do as I command! Move!" She scolded Blue.

"Maybe someone should suggest to Allura that flying the lion is different the flying the castle." Pidge suggested.

"Hey, I already told her yelling at her lion wouldn't work. Didn't go over all. She yelled at me too." Lance commented.

"Yeah, count me out. She scares me when she's under pressure." Hunk added.

"I can hear you." Allura said annoyed.

I sighed, "Allura, stop comparing the lion to the castle and get a feel of how it moves. Oh, and by the way scolding it won't help, you'll just make it irritated. Bond with your lion, feel what the lion feels."

Allura let out a deep breath, "I'll try."

"Keith, what's are next course of action?" I asked.

"How about this?" He answered, "Everyone stay out of my way! Taylin, you follow me."

I was dumfounded by the attitude he had taken, but I followed his lead to avoid having a fight with him. I moved my handles forward, moving White faster until I was right next to Keith.

"Great leadership." Lance commented with sarcasm.

Together, we began to fire at the small ship being careful not to hit one another with our lasers; that's what the enemy clearly wanted. The fighter kept going after Keith, shooting at Black's back. Lotor was smart, he went for the head first.

"Okay, this isn't working. We need to form Voltron." Keith said as we returned to the others. "Everyone! In formation!" He ordered. We flew up in a V shaped but nothing seemed to happen, the familiar tingle that I felt when we formed Voltron did not run through my body.

"Uh, guys? Guys, I'm not really feeling that Voltron feeling!" Hunk exclaimed.

"Keep going!" Keith pressed on.

"It's not happening!" Pidge said.

"What is going on?" Keith growled.

"Break formation! We have incoming fighter!" I ordered, the others followed my lead.

"Well, that was embarrassing." Lance commented.

"Agreed." I said back.

"So, should we call it quits? Maybe go back, regroup, get a meal?" Hunk suggested.

"No!" Keith exclaimed, "I know everyone is struggling, but we can't let Lotor slip away."

We followed Lotor's ship into the planet's atmosphere, we were immediately met with spiked mountains and lighting flashes. Thick yellow and orange gases covered the surface not allowing us to see how tall the peaks really were. Lotor had disappeared into the cloud of gas. "I don't think it was such a good idea to come here, he is trying to lure us in deeper." I said eyeing my instruments.

"Yeah, we may not want to follow him. We don't know what's in there." Pidge agreed with me, but Keith chose to ignore us. He launched forward into the gas storm without thinking of the consequences. We had no option but to follow him, deciding it would be better to stay together. When we entered, my instruments began to glitch and the lights of the cockpit glowed red in warning. Pidge tried to say something, but her voice broke after every other word, "Guys…. have a problem. My sensors are going crazy…think it's due to this…atmosphere and what must be strange…magnetic poles."

"We need to head back around, it's impossible to fly without knowing where were headed." I advised. I pressed a couple of button on my control panel but couldn't reestablish the navigation radar.

"We can't worry about that now. I'm not letting this guy get away." Keith argued.

"Keith, without accurate sensors or working equipment, we're not gonna be able to tell what's up or down, where we are, or how to get out." Pidge pointed out.

"She's right, we should head back to the castle and come up with a better plan." I tried to reason with him, but we wouldn't have it.

"-going."

"What? All I heard was 'going'. Are we going back? Is anyone else getting this static?" Hunk asked confused.

Since Keith was further ahead, his comm signal was not able to broad cast as well.

"I'm losing visuals on you all. I need you to slow down!" Allura complained.

I looked behind me and saw the faint light of the Blue Lion's eyes, Allura was falling really behind.

"We gotta keep up. He's getting away!" Keith ordered.

"Guys, I think this gas is messing with our radios. We gotta stay close if we want to communicate." Hunk advised.

"Keith! We can't leave the others behind." I pleaded as I followed close to his tail.

"I think we made it through the worst of it." Lance commented, but suddenly he let out a yell that send shivers down my arms.

"No! No!" Allura screamed as her lion took a hit.

I felt anxious and scared when on my screen Allura's signal disappeared.

"Allura took a hit. I'm going in after her." Hunk said breaking formation.

"Hunk!" Keith exclaimed seeing the Yellow Lion disappear; he groaned. "The rest of you, stay on me!" He kept on pushing forward regardless of the two missing lions.

"Keith, we have to go back for Allura!" Lance stated.

Keith only growled in response.

"Keith!" I yelled, "Keith! We have to go back for the others! We need to keep the team together!"

Keith said nothing but thankfully slowed down allowing Allura and Hunk a chance to catch up.

"How's everyone doing?" I asked, "Did everyone get a chance to catch up?"

"I'm sorry that I slowed us down, but the Blue Lion isn't listening to me." Allura replied.

"It's okay. We're a team. We stick together." Lance said to her, but I felt like it was more aimed at Keith.

"Yes, we are a team. Aren't we fearless leader?" I shot at Keith with sarcasm.

"It's not about the team. We have a mission that's more important than any one of us. We need to find Lotor and stop him, and I plan on doing that right now." He responded shooting forward, leaving us behind.

Heat ran through my veins in anger at his words, nothing was more important than the team. Voltron would not exist without one another; Keith's mentality was preventing us from forming Voltron. He only thought of what was ahead, and not the people around him.

"Come on guys. We'd better stick together." Lance said with a sigh.

We all kept moving forward, gaining speed to catch up with Keith. I said nothing more, afraid that I would snap at someone.

"This is crazy! We can't see a thing." Hunk whined.

"Stay together. He's around here somewhere. I know it." Keith said looking around until he found what he was looking for, "There!" But as soon as he spotted Lotor, he was gone.

"Where did he go?" Allura asked.

"No clue." Pidge answered, "Our radars are worthless in here."

"Hey, is it just me, or does anyone else get the feeling this guy is just toying with us?" Hunk asked.

I silently agreed with him, all the shoot and evade tactics he was using was a clear sign of that. It seemed that he wanted to know how capable we were, and we were failing miserably.

"I'm with you, big guy. I'm getting a case of the heebie-jeebies." Lance complied.

"He must have lured us here on purpose." Pidge said.

I kept looking around for any sign of Lotor's ship, him having a smaller vessel had made it harder for us to find him and easier for him to move quickly around the planet's terrain. I noticed a slight movement beyond the gas, studying it closely, I made out a shape of a ship. "He's right there!" I yelled. As if he had heard me, Lotor flew his ship right in the middle of our formation breaking us apart.

"We need to get out of here. We've been lead into a trap. The tables have turned. They've flipped the script. The hunters have become the hunted." Hunk started babbling in fright.

"Hunk, shouting tag-lines is getting us nowhere!" Lance yelled back.

"Lance is right." Keith agreed to my surprise.

"He's coming back around, prepare for another attack. All lions stay close together." I ordered, and they did just that.

"As soon as you see him, fire with everything you've got." Keith said.

The fighter came back around trying to separate our formation once again, he moved so agile and skilled through our defenses. "Now! Fire!" Keith ordered. He was the first one to shoot but once the laser beam left his lion's mouth an explosion occurred right in front of him sending him flying back. I had not time to react and the same happened to me and the rest the team. The explosion was so big that it sent me crashing onto a nearby peak and bounced off only to crash on the Black Lion. I pulled on my handles trying to stabilize my lion but we both ended up stumbling towards a ledge. Keith grunted and stood up his lion ready to take flight again.

I was angry. He put everyone at risk for one fighter, even if it was Lotor, the lives of our team mates always came first. I stood up too and launched myself at him pushing his once again to the ground. The Black Lion was belly up, Whites paws were on its shoulders preventing him from moving. "What were you thinking?!" I growled. I had connected deeply with my lion without thinking until I was seeing through her eyes; she roared loudly. White brought her head closer to the Black Lion's until we were eye to eye. It was as if somehow White and I had become one, I could feel the metallic hull of the Black Lion under her paws. "You put the lives of everyone of the team in danger." I said but my voice did not only come from my mouth, but the lion's as well making it sound less soft and more like a thunder strike.

"Guys! Break it up. As much as he deserves it, this is not the place or time." Lance intervened. His voice snapped me out of my trance, I pulled my handles backward setting the Black Lion free.

"Sorry." I apologized, "That was strange."

The Red Lion landed and looked around, "What happened back there? Where's the rest of the team?"

The Black Lion has stood up and approached us, "This is all my fault. I followed him right into this trap. Everyone warned me, but I didn't listen. I put the entire team in jeopardy." Keith said admitting his fault.

"Yeah, you kinda did. But now we gotta fix it." Lance said sharply.

"You're right. I'm sorry Taylin."

I took a deep breath before answering, "What's done is done, now we need to work together to get ourselves out of this mess."

"Let's go."

We took off flying slowly to avoid hitting a peak, everything was covered in thick yellow gas, preventing us to see more than a few feet in front of our noses.

"How are we going to find them?" Lanced asked.

"Maybe I can track them down, I just need to concentrate." I answered.

"Do it, we'll cover you." Keith said and moved to my side. I closed my eyes and extend my mind out to the others, I could feel them, but their locations were unclear to me. Everything looked the same, the only thing I was able to pick up was fear, the others were scared and lost, but suddenly I felt confidence and the familiar mind of Allura. She had found a way to navigate through the terrane.

 _"Allura."_

 _"Taylin! I'm coming, don't move. I have connected with Blue and used his sonic waves to create a map of the terrain."_

 _"I sense you are close, keep heading straight."_

 _"I see you!"_

I opened my eyes to see faint glowing eyes in the thick gas until they became clear and the Blue Lion appeared.

"Allura!" Lance exclaimed, "I'm so happy to see you."

"I'm glad I found you, but we need to keep moving. Lotor was following me, we need to find Hunk and Pidge quickly."

"Let's move and get out of here." Keith said.

Allura took the lead, with the help of her map it was much easier to fly. It wasn't long before we found them.

"Hailing Pidge and Hunk. Are you Paladins looking for an exit?" Allura asked as we appeared before them.

"No way! You guys found us!" Hunk cheered.

"Actually, Allura found you." Keith stated, "She found us all."

"She connected with her lion and with its powers created a map of the place." I said with pride.

"Wow! How did you do it?" Pidge asked fascinated.

"I just had to get into a Lance like mindset and stop thinking so much." Her answered caused me to giggle.

"Yeah, think like Lance! Wait a minute!" Lance said understanding, "Are you calling me dumb?"

"No, I'm calling you natural." Allura said quickly, trying to fix her mistake.

"Naturally dumb." Hunk teased.

"Yeah, he was born with it." Pidge added.

"Oh, that is so mean." I said with a laugh.

"Look, I'm glad we're all making fun of Lance, but we still have to find a way out of here." Keith said.

"Well, since Allura has the map by all means lead the way sister." I said with a slight bow of my lion's head.

Allura moved ahead of us, "Wait a tick. Everyone, we have company."

"It looks like Lotor called for backup." Hunk said, "Oh, man its always something."

About a dozen ships appeared on our radar, they were approaching the planet fast.

"We have to form Voltron." Keith said.

"But we were not able to form Voltron the last time we tried." Allura reminded him.

"We have to keep trying. We may have come here fragmented and disorganized, but the only way we're getting out of here is if we work together. This is our team." Keith said lifting our spirts, "Shiro believed in us. We have to believe in ourselves. Who's with me?"

"Yeah!" We yelled in unison.

"Now, form Voltron!" He ordered.

I began to fill the familiar tingle that ran through my body and my lion began to shift until it connected to the Black Lion, the other lions came together to form the appendages until Voltron was finally formed. I moved Voltron towards the incoming ships, dodging their laser fire.

"Hunk, I'm a leg!" Allura yelled in excitement.

"Pretty cool, right?" Hunk asked agreeing with her.

We kept approaching the Galra ships at a fast speed, they fired their ion cannons, but Pidge activated the shield blocking the incoming attacks. The shield reflected the laser beam back to the ships hitting a few. The ships kept on firing not noticing their mistake, "This is about to light up." I said with a smile and moved Voltron towards the incoming shots, taking them down with their own attacks. A small ship began to retreat after seeing their fleet destroyed, "They're getting away. Should we go after him?" Pidge asked.

"No." Keith answered, "Pushing the team too hard is what got us in this mess in the first place. We'll face them again when we're ready."

"Spoken like a true leader." I said with a smile.

"Roger that team leader." Lance agreed.

I moved Voltron to head back towards the Castle of Lions, leaving a grave yard of Galra ships. As we moved away rapidly, my smile vanished, and I felt a strange feeling in my gut. It was as if something was calling to me, pulling at the strings of my heart but as it quickly came, it vanished.

If only I had looked back.

* * *

Oh no! The star crossed lovers were so close, yet so far. :(

Thanks for Reading!

Also thanks for your lovely comments. :)

 _ukitakeitalialover041757- I really love this story! I can't wait to read more._

 _Anonymous-E- Another good chapter. Can't wait for the next one._


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

 **Hole in The Sky**

At the speed Voltron was going, the castle quickly came into view, we disbanded back into lions, each heading to their perspective hangars. It was a tuff first mission, it felt like when we nearly started back on Arius. We had to learn to work together again with people we already knew. With everything that had been going on, I did not have to time to continue my search for Shiro. He was always there, in the back of my mind, reminding me how much a longed to be at his side. I wondered every night, when I went to bed, how our lives would have been like if we had met under different circumstances. Would I have fallen for him then? Who knew if my father would have accepted him as my mate since he was no prince or royal of any kind, but he had a heart of gold.

I sighed and left my hangar ready to head to bed after the eventful day we had. I passed by a few of the Paladins which I only gave a small smile with a nod of my head in acknowledgement of their presence. I was so deep in thought that I almost smacked into Pidge, she being shorter had prevented me from seeing her.

"Hey, you okay Taylin?"

"Yeah, sorry." I said shaking my head to clear my head, "I didn't see you there."

"Yeah." She laughed, "I noticed. Is something the matter?"

"I was just thinking about today." I said running a hand through my hair.

"Me too, how crazy it is that Zarkon has a son."

"Indeed." I said tiredly, "Well Pidge, if you'll excuse me, I'm headed to bed."

She nodded her head, "Night."

I just smiled at her in response.

I made it into my room and got ready for bed, taking a shower and changing into my sleeping garments. My body felt so heavy and my eyelids tended to close on their own like really heavy curtains. It wasn't long before slumber overtook me.

 _The bed beneath me felt stone cold and uncomfortable, I tried adjusting my sleeping position, but it was no use. I sighed deeply and opened my eyes, but instead of seeing the familiar surroundings of my chambers, I saw grey stone walls. I immediately sat up looking around, only a small ray of light seeped through a crack in the sealing. The cold hugged my body, I brought my arms close to my chest to warm them. When I looked down, I was in my Paladin armor, but my communicator was missing from my left wrist._

 _"How did I get here?" My breath created a small puff of white. I thought for a moment but could not recall us going on a mission. A shiver went through my body and I decided that instead of sitting there and freezing, it would be wise to find out where I was and get back to the castle. I stood up with a bit of difficulty since my legs were frozen, small jabs ran down them as the blood began to flow once again. I followed the tunnel out of the cave, peering outside, my thoughts were confirmed, it was indeed another frozen planet. The winds howled through the landscape, picking up snow particles and scattering them onto other hills._

 _"What is with me and frozen planets? I'm starting to hate the snow as much as Storm."_

 _My boots made soft crunching sounds as I stepped out of the cave and onto the snow. The place seemed deserted, small hills of snow accumulated throughout the landscape and in the distance, I could make out a glimmer of what I assumed was a frozen lake. Everything seemed peaceful until something, that looked like a ball of fire, broke through the clouds and crashed. I forgot about the cold and ran towards the crash site to provide aid. As I neared, the shape of the ship looked very familiar, it was a Galra fighter. I slowed down and approached the ship with more caution, I didn't know if the pilot was hostile or not, regardless, they needed help. The back of the ship had been totally burned off, but the cockpit looked to have sustained minor damages, meaning the person must have survived. I climbed the nose of the ship and summoned my Bayard in a form of a sword and stabbed it where the black glass met the metal of the hull. I pushed it up to pry it open, after some effort, it finally opened with a load hiss. Placing my Bayard to the side, I took hold of it with both hands and pulled it up, but to my surprise, it was empty._

 _"What?"_

 _Suddenly, a strong pain emanated from my chest making me double over and fall off the fighter and onto the snow. I hissed and growled, the pain brought tears to my eyes making my vision blurry. In the distance, I noticed I was not alone. A figure with long hair walked away from me, they were dressed in grey. I tried to scream for help, but no sound came from my mouth. I closed my eyes tightly, awaiting my end._

I opened my eyes with a gasp and sat up abruptly. I was back in my room, it was another nightmare. The temperature had dropped significantly and when I looked down at the floor, there were traces of ice, climbing up the walls like veins. The nightmare had triggered my powers, the ice element was slowly taking over my body and reaching my core. I placed my hands on my head and closed my eyes to concentrate in summoning the fire element to heat my body. It began to work slowly as traces of heat ran throughout my body and the cold subdued. I jumped out of bed and turned on the lights not wanting to sleep any more, afraid that my emotions would trigger another nightmare. I walked into my closet to change into my battle attire, similar to the one Allura always used but without the Voltron symbol. It was all black with gold accents, metallic gold wings decorated the back. I grabbed my Bayard and walked out of my room heading to the training room to clear my head. The temperature of the hallway had also been affected but nobody had noticed what went on in my room. Nearing the doors to the training deck, I heard swords clashing and grunting. I walked in to see Keith fighting the gladiator in his regular clothes, his jacket was discarded off in a corner. The gladiator came at him with force, pushing him back, trying to get him to slip his footing.

"Block, get down, kick its knee, slice." I instructed, Keith followed my commands and deactivated the robot. He breathed heavily, his forehead was laced with sweat that he cleaned with the back of his arm.

"Thanks for the help."

I smiled, "Don't mention it, just giving a few pointers."

"You gonna train?" He asked pointing at my Bayard.

"Yeah, I…I couldn't sleep anymore…nightmares."

He looked at me with worried eyes showing concern for me, "I get does too… Hey, I wanted to apologize for what happened today, I didn't listen to you and you're my second in command."

"We all make mistakes, I understand that you are new to all of this."

He touched his hair pushing a strand that had fallen over his eye, "How did you do that with your lion? I mean, connect with it. The White Lion spoke, that was very unsettling."

I walked toward the middle of the training deck's circle, "I have a deep connection to my lion, one that has allowed me to almost be one with her. It's sort of like the connection I have with Storm."

Keith dematerialized his sword and went to the corner to grab his jacket and put it on, "Is it just me, or did it get chilly in here?"

I chuckled, "Sorry, that would be me. My nightmare triggered my powers, I almost froze my room in the process."

"Are you okay?" He asked alarmed.

"Yeah, my powers are linked to my emotions. Anything that is perceived as something emotionally strong, can trigger them."

"I noticed." He said coming to stand a few feet in front of me, "Like when you get irritated, a gust of wind usually passes by. What elements are linked to what emotion?"

"Keith, a girl's emotions are her own business." I said seriously.

"I didn't mean it like that…what I meant to say-" he stuttered embarrassed.

I laughed, "I'm just teasing you Keith."

He looked at me annoyed, "Very funny Taylin."

I mentally ordered my Bayard to turn into a sword and took a defensive stance, "On guard."

Keith looked at me confused but summoned his sword again, "You want to fight me?"

I smirked, "You scared of me."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes and began to move slowly to the right, trying to circle around me. I moved in the opposite direction mirroring him. Keith being the over confident one always had his sword to the side and not in front of him, that was his first mistake. I launched at him when he least expected it and brought my sword down, he only blocked it at the last moment. He tried to kick my side, but I moved back blocking his incoming blow. Our swords clashed loudly as we blocked and attacked in sync. I had to admit, Keith had a strong hit and had skill to be a master swords man.

The fight continued for about fifteen Earth minutes until I decided to end it. He came at me with full force and just as he was about to hit my sword, I side stepped him, knocked his sword from his hand and kicked his back sending him to the floor. He turned around trying to find his sword, but I pointed the tip of mine at his head. Keith placed his hands up in surrender.

"You have to teach me that." He said between deep breaths.

"Anytime." I smiled and retreated my sword to extend a hand to him. He took it and I pulled him up to his feet.

"Who taught you how to fight like that?"

"I had tutors, but I mostly learned it from my father."

"He must have been something."

"He was." I placed the tip of my sword on the ground and leaned on it, "While everyone else was afraid to take things too far with the Princess of Negetia, he never did. He pushed me to my limits until I got things right, for that, I am thankful to him. He did not treat me as a fragile Princess in need of protection, and neither do you." I smiled.

"I seen the warrior in you, just like Shiro." He said with a small smile.

~A few days later~

All Paladins were at their stations in the control room, while Allura took her usual spot on the control platform. Everything was going fine until the alarms of the castle began to assault our ears.

"What's going on?" Keith asked looking up at the main screen.

"Yeah, these have never gone off before." Pidge added.

The alarm was different than the others, I had spent much time on the Altean castle to know what it meant, "Could it be?" I asked softly.

"Allura, what is it?" Lance asked a shocked Allura.

"Looks like you guys just saw a ghost." Hunk commented.

"That's just the thing." Coran answered, "It's an old Altean distress code. One used by King Alfor's ships."

"Could it be? Are we not the last Alteans alive?" Allura asked finally finding her voice.

"Wait, what if someone's cloning the signal to try and lure us in?" Keith asked untrusting.

I broke my gaze from the main screen to look behind at Allura, "He's right, Lotor could be up to something."

"The signal is from an Altean ship and were going to find it." Allura said sternly.

She opened up a wormhole, when we exited in the distance was a ship stuck inside vortex. "That looks like a Tel-Galax exploration shuttle." Allura said, "One of my father's deep space vessels."

"According to the ship's identification code, its Commodore Trayling's ship." Coran informed, "But I don't see any records of its destination or mission."

"What happened to it?" Lance asked.

"Is it stuck in a wormhole?" Hunk asked.

"That's unlike any wormhole I've ever seen." Coran answered.

"There's a massive amount of energy emanating from it, centered right where the ship is stuck." Pidge said.

"The energy coming from the vortex is strong, it's familiar to me, but I can't place it." I said in thought.

 _"I can feel it too."_ Storm commented from my side.

"We have to see if anyone is aboard. They may need our help." Allura said ignoring our warnings.

"We could send a probe over to it, see if we can get some kind of idea what this thing is." Pidge suggested.

"Sounds like a better idea, than walking into the unknown." I said.

"Do it." Keith ordered.

Pidge typed on her screen and a probe was launched from the castle to the vortex. "The energy shows no signs of radioactive decay and it's not thermal." She informed.

"It's not gravitational, our probe is steady on course, and the light is radiating out, not in, like it would in a black hole." Hunk explained.

"But out from where?" Coran asked in thought, "That energy signature, I know it. Its radiating quintessence!" He exclaimed answering his own question.

Pidge moved the probe closer to the entrance of the hole but as soon as it got too close it was destroyed.

"Oh! That's weird." Hunk said.

"Okay, well, let's not go anywhere near there." Lance said.

"We must." Allura insisted.

"Hold on. Didn't you just see what happened?" Hunk asked her.

"Voltron's compositional strength far exceeds anything else in this universe." She retaliated, "We received an Altean distress call, which must mean that someone is alive on the ship. As Paladins of Voltron, it is our duty to help."

"Princess, I still think there's a chance that this whole thing is a trap." Keith argued.

"Even if it's not a trap, it's far too dangerous to go in there." Coran added.

"I'll do it myself if I have to." Allura said firmly and walked out to change into her Paladin armor.

"I can't let Allura go in there alone, who knows what awaits her inside." I said.

"I know. Here's the plan, we'll form Voltron and hope when we go through that hole we won't be ripped apart." Keith agreed.

"You sure it's a wise idea after seeing what happened?" Pidge asked.

"We have no choice." I said to her, I stood up to go change into my armor.

 _"It's far too dangerous."_ Storm said before I exited the control room, I turned around to look at him.

 _"Don't try to change my mind, its already made up."_

 _"I'm not going to try, because I am coming with you."_

I glanced at him surprised, "What?" I asked aloud, making the other wonder what we were talking about.

 _"If you're going, I'm going. End of conversation."_ He finished sternly, giving me no room for argument.

 _"Fine, meet me in White's hangar."_ I turned around to go.

We flew toward the hole in Voltron, I piloted us in slowly not wanting to take any chances. "All right, let's take it slow. Pidge, any chance you can explain what I'm seeing right now?" Keith asked as we looked at it in wonder.

"The Euclidian space around the ship is obviously some kind of anomaly. But the energy source doesn't originate from anything that registers with my understating of how reality works." She responded.

"I'll take that as a no." Hunk commented.

"I'm not picking up any signs of life on my control panel or any that I can sense." I said while searching with my mind.

"That's strange. Yup, not showing any signs of life on the ship." Hunk agreed.

"Maybe not on this half, but there is more to this ship than we are seeing." Allura stated, "We need to go through there."

"The glowy, explody area?" Lance asked.

"Do you think it's wise to go in there? We don't know what we'll encounter or if Voltron will be able to withstand the pressure of the quintessence." I said.

"There are people who need our help, we must go in. If you had a chance to save your people, wouldn't you?" She argued. I had to admit, she had me there. I would do anything to save my kin, and she knew that.

"Alright Allura, I'll trust you on this one." I responded.

"Pidge keep an eye of Voltron's vitals. Everyone, be prepared to abort if things get hairy." Keith ordered.

"Roger that. Ready to abort immediately." Hunk said.

I moved us slowly into the vortex, the closer we got, the brighter it became.

"Guys, my sensors are going crazy. Technically, we should be torn apart the same way the probe was, but somehow Voltron is completely unaffected by the stress of the spiritual distortion." Pidge said fascinated. "We must have crossed through because that's the front of the ship."

I looked at it closely and Pidge was right, everything around the ship looked the same except now the ship's aft was on the other side.

 _"I don't feel comfortable with this. I hate not knowing what is going on."_ Storm complained.

 _"I'm with you, this keeps getting stranger and stranger. Stay on alert."_

"Wait, the back of the ship is gone!" Allura exclaimed once she realized it, "Coran! Coran! We've lost sight of the castle. Coran, are you there?"

I turned to look at my monitors, the castle has indeed gone. No traces of it were coming up on the radar. In front of us now, was a shadowy dark planet.

"Where did he go?" Keith asked.

"And where did that planet come from?" Lance asked.

"I think a better question is, where did we go?" I said.

"According to my sensors, we're still in exactly the same place we were before." Pidge said.

"Guys, this is going to sound strange, but now I'm detecting multiple biorhythms aboard the ship." Hunk informed. I immediately looked at my scanners only to see small dots signaling that there was in fact life aboard the ship.

"Alteans." Allura voiced.

"It seems like we've only got one clue to help us figure out what's going on, and its floating right over there." Lance said referring to the ship.

I piloted us towards the ship, we disbanded and docked our lions on one of the entrance hatches. I exited through the White Lion's chest plate, the doors opened at our presence. "Hello? Is anyone here?" Allura asked. We turned on our wrist flashlights to see in the dark corridor. The gravity in the ship was turned off. As we floated by, suddenly one of the doors opened and Allura turned to flash her light inside.

"Oh man." Hunk said freaking out, "This place is totally freaking me out. Does it feel like a haunted ghost ship to anyone else? Is it just me?"

 _"What is going on in there?"_ Storm asked, as he has stayed on White since he had no face breather.

 _"I don't know, the place looks deserted."_

Storm mended our minds together, so he could see through my eyes.

Metal groaning could be heard through the corridors making the whole place seemed frightening. We followed Allura into the room, she pressed her palm on the panel brining the gravity on. Everything that was floating inside dropped to the floor in and instant, including us. We looked around, but there was nobody on site.

"So, did the crew abandon ship?" Keith asked.

Lance began to more toward an Altean armor leaning against the wall, "I don't know, but they couldn't have gotten far without their space su-" He screamed and backed away, when he removed the helmet, inside was a skeleton. "Those aren't empty!"

Allura moved to the control panel and accessed the computer's blog, an Altean with grey hair and a beard appeared on screen, "We located the second comet based on King Alfor's information. We managed to get it aboard, but it seems to be causing massive disturbance. We're heading back to Altea, but I don't know if we'll be able to make it that far. At this rate-" He suddenly screamed and was engulfed in a bright light; the blog ended.

"What happened here?" Hunk asked.

"Something deadly." Lance said.

I looked toward the skeleton of the wall, it looked exactly like the man in the blog. I turned my gaze away in respect.

"This is still doesn't explain the biorhythms I picked up in this area." Hunk said, analyzing the data on his wrist communicator.

Just as Hunk finished his comment, one of the ceiling vents was kicked open and two figures dressed in black jumped down. One looked to be a humanoid and the other looked like Slav. They pointed their guns at us, Lance immediately jumped into action, "Look out!" He activated his Bayard and shot at them. The figure that looked like Slav began to scream as he dodged Lance's incoming shots, Hunk ran forward to tackle him. The other figure aimed at Lance and that's when we sprang into action. Keith sliced the tip of his gun with his sword and I kicked his head sending him stumbling back. Keith came in for another hit, but the figure regained his balance and side stepped him sending him towards the wall. He kept moving around quickly, dodging laser fire very skillfully. Lance went after him aiming his riffle at the figure's head, but he turned around and threw a dagger at Lance hitting him right on the face. He jumped up and materialized a sword ready to bring it down on Lance, Pidge activated her Bayard and shot her rope dark at his head breaking the side of his helmet. He got thrown back and landed on his feet with a load thud. He was about to grab his gun when I quickly send a ball of energy towards his hand and pushed it out of his grasp. He faced forward and the rest of his visor fell of revealing a familiar face. We gasped and looked in shock at the man before us.

"No way! Shiro?" Hunk asked shocked.

"How?" Keith asked wide eyed.

"I…I…" I stuttered, my mind would not connect with my mouth.

Shiro seeing us unmoving moved to grab his gun and pointed it at us, "Stay back!" He warned, his voice sounded different.

"If you've come for the comet, you'll never get it. I'll die before I let it fall into Altean hands." The figure that looked like Slav said, he had taken point next to Shiro.

I put my left hand up signaling that I would not do nothing to harm them and slowly leaned down to place my Bayard on the ground. I came back up to have both my hands in the air in sign of surrender and began to take small steps towards them, he followed my every move with his gun. "Shiro, please. I don't want to hurt you." I pleaded, "Please put your gun down." Shiro looked at me in wonder for a tick until his gaze turned behind me and pointed his gun, Keith was mirroring my steps.

"My name is not Shiro. Its Sven." He said.

I crushed my eyebrows together in confusion, how could this man look like Shiro but not be him? I felt relieved when his face was revealed, but now, I didn't know what to think.

"What the heck is happening here?" Hunk asked, "Did everyone get amnesia and then wake up with weird accents?"

"You know us?" Slav asked.

"Of course, we do!" Lance exclaimed, "You're Shiro, our leader. Paladin of the Black Lion? And you're Slav, I rescued you from space prison. You're also slightly crazy."

"I may be crazy, but you've never rescued me from anything before. Unless, you're from an alternate reality." Slav said.

"An alternate reality?" I asked in disappointment, realizing that the man before me was in fact not my Shiro. I lowered my hands down, letting them fall to my side with a slight sag of my shoulders.

"Uh, what's that now?" Hunk asked confused.

"When we entered the vortex, we entered a different reality." I said, "This is not the galaxy we know."

"You mean like what Slav was always talking about? Well, not you. Well, you, yeah, but a different you. One that talks about alternate realities a lot." Lance said.

"Oh, that's him." Sven said.

"Why did you attack the captain and his crew?" Allura said sternly coming forward.

"Stay back Altean." Sven warned pointing his gun at her, I put up an invisible barrier between them and us.

"We found the ship this way, but I can't say I'm sorry they're gone." Slav said.

"Why do you say that?" I asked but he didn't get to answer as his wrist comm began to beep, he opened to screen and gasped.

"Oh, no! More Alteans!"

"Wait! More Alteans?" Allura asked surprised.

"Their scanners must have picked up our arrival." Slav said, "Sven, let's go! If I were you, I'd run." They both claimed back into the vent they came from, Sven never let his aim falter from us.

"What the heck just happened?" Lance asked confused.

"Did he say we're being boarded by Alteans?" Allura asked.

"But isn't this their ship? And what of the life form readings that were already here?" I asked.

The door to the control room began to tremble, we looked at it with a bit of fear of what would appear. When the door finally opened, two Alteans, a couple of Altean sentries, and an unknown alien walked in. I summoned my Bayard to my hand and activated it into a bow, I pulled it back materializing a blue glowing arrow.

"Put down your weapons!" A female Altean with purple hair ordered.

Allura let out a gasp when she saw their Altean markings, "Alteans!"

The female Altean turned to look at Allura, "It can't be." She said shocked and got down on one knee, "Empress! Queen Fireheart!" The others followed her example and bowed down as well.

"Uh, I'm confused. What is going on?" Hunk asked.

"I don't understand." I muttered.

The Altean lifter her head, "Are you Empress Allura and Queen Fireheart?"

"I am Princess Allura." Allura answered.

"And I am Queen Fireheart." I said.

"Please stand." Allura ordered.

"I am Commander Hira, Empress." She began, "How can you two be here? You two put down the Galra uprising, you Empress, established the Altean Empire ten thousand years ago. Queen Fireheart and the Drakie fought alongside us as our most loyal allies. You, Queen of the Drakie, became the fiercest female in the galaxy. Helping us establish peace and stability throughout countless planets."

"Where we're from, all Alteans were wipeout by Zarkon when he destroyed your planet and the Drakie were scattered throughout the galaxy, they have not been seen for ten thousand years." Keith said.

"Where did you come from?" The male Altean asked.

"From another reality, I suppose." I answered, "But my question to you is, why is your ship stuck in between dimensions?"

"Yeah, I would like to know." Pidge added.

"I can show you my theory if you come with me." The male Altean said.

Pidge lightened up and ran forward with her hands together. Commander Hira nodded her head and Pidge, Lance, and Hunk followed him out. "If you would please come with me Empress and Queen." Allura moved first to follow, I noticed Keith had not left with the others. As I was about to take a step, Keith caught my arm and pulled me back a bit, "I'm coming with you. I still don't trust any of this." He said lowly, so only I could hear. I nodded my head in agreement and followed Allura out, Keith shadowed me.

 _"Keith is right not to trust them."_ Storm said in my head, _"Something's off about these Alteans."_

 _"You might be right, there is a strange vibe coming from them, but could there really be another reality where we take down the entire Empire?"_

 _"The universe holds many secrets, it could be a possibility."_

 _"Though one thing they have not mentioned at all is Voltron."_

Stormed hummed in agreement and kept looking through my eyes. The commander was leading us into the hallway that lead into the main control room. The doors opened for us revealing a control room really similar to the castles with a giant crystal on the sealing.

"So, the Drakie and the Alteans of this reality defeated the Galra?" Allura asked.

"Led by you and Queen Drakie, my Empress." She said with a smile, "Without your will to fight and avenge the loss of you father and your fallen Drako." She pointed to me, "Altea would not have been able to spread peace and stability throughout the universe."

 _"Wait, wait, wait. I died."_ Storm said surprised, _"This doesn't make any sense. I'm still here!"_

 _"Remember that this is a different dimension. None of the things that happened here, happened in our time."_ I reminded him.

"Defeating Zarkon was the first step, but we refused to give up until all worlds know the true peace Altea has achieved." Hira went on.

"That is wonderful!" Allura exclaimed putting her hands together, I smiled at the thought of having a war free universe.

We moved to stand on the platform under the control crystal, from this view it looked bigger than the castle's.

"Advancements have been made. Citizens that might have been casualties of war in Empress Allura's day now can be rehabilitated. Entire races who warred for millennia can now know peace and help to further our new world." Hira said.

Allura smiled at the thought of brining other races together to coexist, I however, looked upon her in distrust. There was something she wasn't telling us; Keith seemed to catch on too.

"So, they become a part of the Altean peace movement?" Allura asked.

"In a way they did." She answered, "With the help of The Hoktril, one of the Alteans most advanced technology, we can take away their thirst to keep fighting. They no longer feel the urge to create wars, only peace."

"That sounds to me a bit like mind control." I said with a frown.

"Your taking these people's free will." Keith argued.

"The same will that would end your life with no remorse." Hira said with a scowl, "Thanks to us, no innocent will lose its life to the free will of an evil being. Empress Allura let me show you something," She tapped on her wrist and a hologram of Altea projected from it. "This is our Altea. Come with me. Allow me to show you the magnificence it has achieved. As for you Queen Fireheart, your planet awaits you. The beautiful Negetia has prospered throughout the decades, no longer are their mindless beasts roaming your planet, but highly skilled beings who share their wisdom with does willing to learn."

 _"What did she mean by, mindless beasts?"_ Storm asked rising a red flag.

 _"I don't know, but something tells me that my people in this reality are not free as she is presuming them to be. The Drakie would never condone such technology to be used on any living creature. We understand the true feeling of freedom and the power of the mind, that alone makes us a threat to Hira's perfect universe."_ I said in realization.

Hira pressed her wrist again and the hologram of Altea disappeared.

"Returning to Altea…Its seemed like such an impossible dream, I could never allow the thought." Allura said.

"Allura, this might not be the Altea you remember." Keith said gaining her attention.

"Negetia could not be the same ether…" I trailed off looking at the floor.

"You're right." Hira said a bit angry, "This Altea is home to a people who made sure that the Galra scourge was unable to spread across the universe, as it did in your reality." She turned to look at Allura, "Empress, I assure you, we will do everything in our power to help. The comet in this ship's hold possesses the ability to travel between realities. If you will activate this ancient ship's power, we can fly forward and remove the comet from the tear. We can use it to travel to your universe and bring peace there, even to the Galra."

"Maybe you should think about this, Allura." Keith pleaded, "It wasn't long ago that we thought all Galra were bad. Maybe things aren't as black and white as she's making them out to be."

"Keith is right, we know nothing of this reality. We should take it one step at a time." I added.

"Taylin, Keith, these are my people, and they may be the strongest allies we have in this war." Allura responded and move to place her hands on the ship's controls. The whole room came to life and the crystal above her began to glow, the ship suddenly shook as she moved it away from the tear. The ship was now in the current reality, no longer cut in half.

"You've done it Allura. Soon, we'll use the comet to spread peace throughout every reality." Hira said happily.

We turned around at the sound of footsteps and in came Hunk, Pidge, Lance, Slav, and Sven with their hands behind their backs, two Altean sentries with riffles guarded them along with the male Altean from earlier. We moved off the platform towards our friends with confused faces.

"What is going on?" Allura asked.

"Empress, the Guns of Gamara have infiltrated this ship." The male Altean said, "These people were working with them."

"Let our friends go!" Keith demanded harshly.

"Hira, you and the rest of Altea have turned this universe into an army of slaves. Peace at the sake of freedom!" Slav said.

"Slave? Is this true?" Allura asked.

We turned to look at Hira, I narrowed my eyes at her fully in distrust. Something was off about her from the start, Slav just confirmed that.

"Non-cogs are not slaves!" The male Altean exclaimed, "You're the ones who spread chaos and destruction! We're going to scan that little brain of yours and get every last rebel location. Finally, our wars can end."

"Allura, we cannot let this happen." Keith said.

I stepped forward, "You have no right to take anything from anybody's mind. I will not allow more beings to be enslaved by your hand." I growled, a gust of wind swirled throughout the room at my irritation.

"Hira, please. We both want to same thing." Allura pleaded, "Peace."

"Do we?" She responded much harshly, "Your weakness has brought nothing but pain and suffering to your people at the hands of the Galra. We have brought peace and order to ours, and with this comet, we will bring our peace to every reality. You're no empress of mine."

"And you're no Altean." Allura said, her Bayard appeared in her hand.

Slav suddenly started laughing causing everyone to look at him as if he had gone mad.

"Why are you laughing?" Lance asked.

"Because this is the reality where everything works out fine." He responded, his laughter dyeing down.

I felt Storm's presence closer, he had withdrawn his mind from mine for a few ticks. Suddenly, the door to the control room was bashed opened and Storm pounced on the nearby sentries breaking them in half with his talons. Sound of explosions rumbled throughout the ship, "Just in time." Slav said.

Keith summoned his sword and threw it at the sentry closes to him, cutting it down. My Bayard appeared in hand in a form of a bow and shot down two incoming sentries that had sneaked behind Storm's back. He turned to me and gave me a deep grumble as a thank you.

"Dog-pile!" Sven exclaimed, everyone else jumped on to one of the sentries.

Keith tackled the male Altean to the ground, while Allura and I began to fight with Hira. Allura's Bayard turned into a whip that wrapped around her sword and pulled on it, sending her flying to the ground. She tried to stand up, but I came and kicked her on the chin knocking her out.

"Let's go." Allura ordered.

We followed her instructions out of the control room and back to our lions. More Altean sentries began to flood the corridors, Hunk and Lance took them down with their guns allowing us to pass through.

"Pidge, which way to the lions?" Keith asked.

"To the left!"

We summoned are shields as the sentries began to fire at us with more intensity, Storm lowered his body to the ground to avoid getting shot. Lance took point in front us taking down a few sentries, he turned to his left, "Huh?" And I heard a shot. Sven ran up to him and pushed him out of the way taking the shot for him. He screamed in pain as he fell down. I moved toward Lance as he seemed to have frozen up, "Lance! Help me get him away from the fire fight." He snapped out of his trance and grabbed ahold of one of Sven's arms as I took the other. We pulled him away from the corridor's entrance, I kneeled next to him with my shield up.

"Sven! Are you okay?" Lance exclaimed, "You saved my life!"

I turned to look at Sven examining his injuries, he grunted with pain.

 _"Storm! Help me out here."_

He said nothing but mended our strength together.

"I'll be fine." Sven said, "Just take me to space hospital."

"I'll do something better than that." I said and hovered my hand over his injury. My right hand began to feel hot and I removed my glove to reveal the palm of my hand glowing a soft white. I closed my eyes and concentrated in mending his injuries. After a few ticks, Sven let of a sigh of relief and I opened my eyes. He touched the spot he had been shot rapidly, trying to find any sign of pain.

"You healed me." He said with a smile.

"You saved one of my own, it was the least I could do."

He might not be Shiro, but he had his selflessness. I couldn't leave him injured after what he had done.

"They're blocking our way to the lions!" Keith yelled blocking incoming attacks with his shield.

"Everyone, hang on!" Slav exclaimed, he ran forward dodging laser fire and pulled a lever. The alarms began to blare, and the bay doors opened, sucking the sentries into space. Allura, Pidge, and Keith held on to the side of the hallway. Storm came to Sven, Lance, Hunk, and I and covered us with one of his wings while he stabbed his talons on the ground.

"Does he do this in every reality?" Lance asked holding onto Sven.

Slav closed the doors and came rushing to his friend's side, who was still a bit weak, "I'll take care of Sven. You just get to your lions!"

We nodded our heads and ran to the door we had entered onto the ship, when we opened the door we jumped in the air activating our jetpacks. I summoned an air bubble inclosing Storm in, protecting him from the vacuum of space. The White Lion noticing my presence, activated and came flying to our aid. She opened her mouth to let us in, once I felt safe inside the cockpit, I let the air bubble fade away setting Storm safely on the floor.

"This is all my fault." Allura's voice came through the comm, "I activated the ship. They're going to dislodge the comet and have the power to terrorize every reality."

Slav appeared on our dashboards, "No, you can still get the comet away from them." He stated.

"Pidge, scan for the comet." Keith ordered.

"Yep. Already picked up on its elemental signature." She responded.

"Everyone, we're going back in to get it. Form Voltron!" He commanded.

Our lions began to shift into place until Voltron was finally formed, we lost no time and followed the comet's energy signature and broke into the room holding it. We grabbed it and I pulled on my handles extending the wings and shooting us out of there.

"Okay, now what?" Lance asked.

"We need to find the exact spot we came in or else we might not make it home." Pidge responded.

The Alteans ships suddenly began to fire at us, I took evasive maneuvers and moved us forward away from them.

"I found it!" Pidge exclaimed.

We pushed the comet into the hole we came from creating a bright light, the Altean ships kept firing at us not wanting us to escape with their prized comet. One of the shots hit us on the back and pushed us into the hole. We screamed at the force of the impact as a bright light engulfed us.

Coran's voice brought us back to our senses, "Paladins, can you hear me? Are you okay?"

"Coran, we're here." Allura responded.

"What happened to the comet?" I asked.

"Lotor appeared out of the blue and took it." Coran said.

"What!" We exclaimed in unison.

 _"We must find a way to get it back, nothing good will come of it in Lotor's hands."_ Storm said.

"We'll figure something out, in the meantime, get back to the castle." Coran said.

We disbanded back into lions and flew into our hangars.

Even though we had stopped the Alteans from taking over other dimensions, our spirits were down at losing it to Lotor. Allura blamed herself for falling into Hira's lies. I tried to talk to her, but she wanted to be alone, I stood outside her door with my forehead on the closed doors.

"Allura, stop blaming yourself. It is those with a pure heart, who hope. You are one of them." I said. I knew she had heard me but said nothing. Everyone else had gone to their rooms to rest, I on the other hand, wished to be somewhere else. I bid Allura goodnight and walked to the control room, just wanting to be alone. It had been seven days since our encounter with Lotor on the gaseous planet, he always seemed to be one step ahead. As the team's strategist, I had to find a way to come up on top and beat him at his own game.

I sat in my chair still in my Paladin armor after a tiring day. I didn't want to go to my chambers, afraid of being tormented by another nightmare. I closed my eyes and rested my head on my hand. I actually felt like falling asleep there, maybe a change in scenery would keep the nightmares away, but as I was about to slip into unconsciousness, I began to hear a ticking noise. At first, I thought nothing of it, maybe a figment of my imagination, but the sound persisted.

 _"Time is running out."_ A deep voice said.

I had never in my life heard that voice, it was even deeper than Storm's, like thunder in the sky or the movement of a giant bolder.

 _"Tick-tock…Tick-tock."_

 _"Who is this? Stop playing games."_ I demanded, _"Get out of my head."_

 _"You asked for my help, and here I am granting it."_

I opened my eyes but no longer saw the interior of the control room, rather the universe spun before my eyes. Thousands of stars danced at the whim of their creator, they glowed each with a unique color according to their years of wisdom. It was the most breath-taking sight, they swirled in front of me, inviting me to become one of them. Calling out to me, whispering my name in the sweetest melodic voices. The ticking noise no longer sounded like a clock, but a soft thud of a heartbeat; the universe's heartbeat. I let them take me, and they lead me into a galaxy with vibrant reds and yellows.

 _"There is what you seek."_ The voice told me.

I looked closely, adjusting my eyes to the swirl of lights, and there in the distance, was a lone ship. It was small and silver, it appeared to be floating with no direction in the vastness of space. I wanted to move closer, but everything began to move in a blur until I blinked and was back in the control room. I gasped at what I had just seen, something inside of me knew what I needed to do. I ran out of the control room and into the hallway that lead to the other's sleeping quarters. I stopped in front of Keith's door and barged into his room without knocking. Keith was already in bed, he jumped startled by my sudden entrance. He relaxed when he noticed it was me.

"Taylin? What's going on?" He stood up to turn on the lights.

"We need to go. Now."

"Where? Are the Galra attacking?"

"What? No. We have to search for a lost ship in space."

"How do you know there is a lost ship? Did we receive a distress signal?" He asked confused making me irritated, there was no time to lose.

"I can't explain Keith, just get into your Paladin armor. We need to go."

He studied me for a short time until he finally sighed, "Alright, meet me in the Black Lion's hangar."

I jumped on him giving him a hug, taking him by surprise, but didn't stick around to see his reaction and ran out the door. I waited for Keith outside the doors of the hangar, pacing back and forth, until he finally appeared ready in his armor.

"Let's go." He said entering the room, when we neared, the Black Lion turned on and lowered his head to the floor, lowering the ramp to let us in. Keith sat on the pilot's chair and I stood behind him grabbing onto the back of his chair.

"Where to?" He asked glancing up at me.

I leaned over him to touch the control panel and entered the coordinates the stars had shown me in the vision. Keith looked them over, "How do you know where to go?"

"No time to explain, just fly." I ordered.

He took the control handles in his hands and we took off. Hopefully nobody woke up and found us gone, I didn't want to be asked questions I did not know the answer to.

Keith flew us at full speed to the coordinates I provided. The galaxy came into view like I had seen before, yellow and red stardust floated around in the darkness of space.

"I'm not getting any readings of a ship in this sector." Keith informed.

His words brought a pang of disappointment to my heart, "Can we just keep looking here." I pleaded, "Just for my peace of mind."

He nodded his head and complied. We flew endlessly through the galaxy in a giant circle, but found nothing, not even a planet. No signs of life lit up the scanners, I was sure we would find something here, but it seemed that the entity that spoke to me was indeed just playing with me. I looked down at the floor, "Let's go back to the castle before anyone misses us."

 _"Where is your fire?... Why do you give up so easily?"_ That voice spoke in my mind again. Suddenly, the Black Lion roared, and the scanners began to beep popping up a screen in front of us.

Keith grunted at the sound of the Black Lion's roar, "What's wrong?"

We both gasped when a distress signal appeared on screen.

"We found him." Keith whispered in shock.

"That's it!" I exclaimed, "Allura! Come in, Allura!" I yelled into the comm.

Her voice came through distressed, "Taylin! What's wrong? Where are you? Why have you left the castle?"

I interrupted her before she bombarded me with more questions, "Allura, were heading back. Be ready to open a wormhole at our arrival at the coordinates we are sending."

"There is nothing in this sector of space, Taylin." She informed looking them over.

"Trust me, please."

"Alright, I trust you. Awaiting your arrival." She informed.

Keith wasted no time, he flew us back faster than the way he had arrived. Soon the castle came into view, Keith flew us in front of the nose of the ship.

"Opening wormhole." Allura said, on cue the bright blue vortex appeared, and we moved into it quickly. When we came out, the small silver ship was before us. It was a Galra fighter, it seemed to have lost power. As we got closer, it looked even smaller compared to the might of the Black Lion.

"Grab ahold of it. Let's get him into the castle quickly." I ordered.

"Roger that." Keith said with a smile.

After countless months of searching, I felt at ease feeling his presence close to me. Just a few more ticks and I would finally have him in my arms.

Keith moved the Black Lion to grab the ship with is jaws and brought us into Black's hangar. He set it down gently and lowered the lion's head to the ground, opening the hatch. I ran out of lion's head not even bothering to wait for Keith to follow. I jumped onto the Galra fighter's nose and with my powers shifted the metal holding the hatch in place and teared it off sending it crashing to the side of the hangar, and there he was. In a tattered, worn-out, orange and white space suit. I reached over and twisted the helmet opening it, it let out a low hiss. I removed it carefully and I was met with his grey eyes; eyes that I has missed so much. I couldn't contain my joy and lunged forward taking him in my arms, tears began to spill out of my eyes. I felt how he slowly embraced me back and leaned his head on my shoulder.

"Don't cry." He whispered, "I hate seeing you sad."

I let out a laugh, "I missed you so much Shiro. These are tears of joy."

We pulled apart and I placed my forehead on his, he reached to wipe one of my tears, "I'm back, and I'm not leaving you again."

* * *

Hey guys and gals, thanks for reading.

This was quite a long chapter, but it was one of my favorites to write.

As far for Taylin's vision, I was listening to music when this song came on and wrote it along with the beat. It inspired me to write it, go and check it out in the link below. I usually listen to this type of music when I'm writing or doing homework. Believe or not, it actually helps me concentrate.

Thank you for your lovely comments!

 _ukitakeitalialover041757- Amazing chapter like always. Taylin is now in my top 10 favorite OC characters! I look forward to the next chapter._

watch?v=fcFm3aTaMcY

Read the part while listening to this, it sounds epic. ;)


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

 **Tailing a Comet**

Shiro and I had to pull away as the other Paladins came into the hangar screaming his name. Everyone was really emotional in seeing him for the first time in a while, even Storm joined in. Hunk began to cry when he hugged him into one of his signature bone crushing embraces. I stayed by his side through the whole reunion afraid that he would collapse in any moment. He looked tired and worn out from his journey through space. Keith was the last one to greet him with a small smile and gave him a brotherly hug, "It's so good to see you."

"Glad to be back." Shiro responded.

"Okay guys, we need to give Shiro some space to rest." I said over their voices, my statement made them quiet down. "Hunk, can you please get something to eat for Shiro and bring it to his room, I'm sure he must be famished."

"Right away." Hunk said with a salute, Pidge followed him out, both running to the kitchen in a hurry.

"Keith, please help me take him to his room. And Coran, bring some of does healing positions with the salves, they are in my bathroom." Coran nodded and left.

Lance and Allura stood aside letting us pass with smiles on their faces, Keith had taken point on Shiro's left side while I took his right. He had his arms over our shoulders, helping him keep steady as we began the walk towards his quarters. When we arrived, Keith helped me take the space suit off of him and put on more comfortable clothes for him to rest. We set him down on his bed; he let out a sigh feeling the softness underneath him. Hunk suddenly appeared with Shiro's food on a tray and set it down on his lap, he had cooked a warm stew for him which steamed on the surface. Shiro looked down at it hungrily and began to eat rapidly like he hadn't eaten in decades. His plate was soon empty, and he continued by scarfing down his water, I step forward to grab his arm and pulled on it a bit, "Easy, we don't want you choking on it." Shiro looked at me with slight amusement but slowed down the pace he was drinking until the pouch had nothing left.

"That was the best food I ever had." Shiro commented.

"Well considering that you haven't eaten for a few days, that might be true." I said with a smile, "But Hunk's cooking is the best."

Hunk perked up at my compliment and gave me a wide smile.

"Are you going to be okay?" Keith asked concerned.

"I'll be fine." He responded with his long hair falling over his eyes. I walked toward the side of the bed and swept it away.

"I'll take care of him, don't worry." I assured.

One by one everyone began to leave wishing Shiro to get well soon, Keith was the last. He gave Shiro a small smile before exiting and closing the door behind him. Two ticks later there was a knock on the door, Coran had brought what I asked him with a cup of water. I thanked him and placed the things on the corner of the bed.

"What are does for?"

"These are to help you heal faster." I raised a red vile to show him, "This will help your muscles relax allowing you to come to rest."

I opened the red container and dripped four drops of it in the water turning it a pinkish color. I handed it to Shiro who sniffed it first before taking a swing of it, his face turned disgusted when he finally tasted it. I quickly moved toward him and place the cup back to his lips, "No, no, no, all of it." I stood there like a mother watching her child finish his medicine, he took big gulps to finish quickly.

He handed me the cup and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, "What is this?"

"It is a healing herb that grew on my planet called Cordaba. It was mostly used on people who were restless, it put them to rest to allow their bodies to heal properly."

"You think I'm going to run out on you?" He joked.

"Not on my watch." I winked, "Just in case." I took the cup from him and set it aside, "Now do you have injuries that need tending to?"

"Ah, yeah. My back seems to hurt ever since I crashed landed on this frozen planet."

I stiffened at his response, memories of the dream I had a few days ago clouded my mind. The figure with long hair and grey cloths matched Shiro's current state. Could it have been a hint of The Black Lion of his where a-bouts?

"Are you okay Taylin?"

I blinked a couple of times trying to forget the memory, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You froze there for a moment." He said with concern.

"Nothing to worry about." I said with a smile, trying to hide my real feelings. I did not want to trouble him with my thoughts after all he's been through. "You mentioned something about your back." I helped him sit up and pulled up his shirt to see a black and purple bruise forming on the middle of his back.

"How bad is it?"

"Not going to lie to you, it looks pretty bad. I'll apply some of the salve Coran brought me."

I grabbed the small container and applied the clear salve to his back with small circular motions. Shiro sighed at my touch; he relaxed a bit. "You should start feeling your back get warm, then it will get cold." He nodded his head and closed his eyes. I continued massaging his back for a few more ticks and slowly brought his shirt down avoiding the fabric to brush the bruise. He leaned back on his pillow, "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, I promised the others I would take care of you."

He reached out with his left hand to grab one of my hands, he's covered mine completely, "Enough about me, how have you been in my absence?"

I looked up at the ceiling feeling his gaze on me, "It was difficult. Trying to keep the team together while preventing myself from falling apart felt like the universe was on my shoulders."

"I'm sorry." He apologized and looked away from me.

I touched his face making him look at me again, "It wasn't your fault."

"Well it sort of was, I don't know what happened to me. I was using the Black Lion's new ability and the next I woke up with Galra looking over me, torturing me." He said quietly, "Everything was so confusing, I felt like the past few months of my life were a blur. The only thing I could think about was getting back to the castle."

"Maybe the Black Lion was trying to protect you from Zarkon."

He glanced at me, "By sending me into the enemy's hands? What a concept."

I sighed and looked down at my lap, "I don't know why the lion did that, to be honest, I reproached it many times. Demanding it to tell me where you where, but the only thing I got was silence." A tear slipped out and fell on my lap, I quickly wiped my eyes before more could follow. Remembering the first few days of his disappearance felt like reliving it all over again. "In the end though, the lion was the one who found you."

"Come here." He said extending his other hand to me and sliding over to make room for me. I stood up without hesitation and placed my head on his chest as he held me tightly to his side. Silent tears slid down my face, as much as I wanted to be strong, I couldn't anymore. I had to mask my feelings for the past few months for the sake of the other Paladins. They needed someone to be their strong pillar, someone who they could look up to for guidance and it was exhausting. I felt so tired. It was like the ten thousand years that I missed were suddenly dumped on me, even if I had not aged a bit.

Shiro pressed a kiss to the side of my head leaving his lips there and exhaling after a few ticks, "It was disconcerting not knowing where you were when I woke up."

I wiped my tear stained faced and lifted my head up to face him, our noses inches apart, "But your back now, let's not dwell on the past." He leaned in to press his forehead to mine, his long hair tickled my face. I opened my eyes and touched his face, drinking in every feature of his face as if afraid he would be torn from my side once again. The white scar on his nose stood out from the rest of his light cream color skin, his dark black eyebrows lined his eyes perfectly and his lips looked an off pink color from being denied necessities for so long. I leaned more into him and lightly touched my lips to him just enjoying his closeness. Shiro opened his eyes and returned the kiss pushing against my lips with more force. His right hand found my waist and brought me closer to him as our lips moved in sync making up for lost time. We continued to bask in our reunion until Shiro slowly began to falter, kissing me much slower; the medicine was starting to kick in. I pulled back to analyze him and he looked at me with half lidded eyes, "I'm scared to wake up and this all be a dream."

I combed his hair to the side and placed my hand on his right cheek, "Rest now, I will be here when you wake. I promise." Shiro moved his head a bit to the side and placed a kiss to my inner wrist as he slowly closed his eyes until his breathing became even and was fast asleep. I lost track of time as I just stayed by his side playing with his long hair and tracing the features of his face with my finger until I decided to stand up to turn off the light. With the utmost care, I removed his arm that wrapped around my waist and slowly slithered my way off the bed without jolting him. I turned off the light and only the small blue light that outlined the walls glowed in the darkness. Instead of going back to bed, there was something on my mind. Something that I been meaning to do since Shiro fell asleep. I quickly slipped out of Shiro's room after making sure that he was comfortable and left toward the lion hangars. I arrived at the one I was looking for and walked in to see the Black Lion sitting on its hind legs looking majestically as always. I walked towards it until I was a few feet in front of it; I looked so small compared to its size.

"Thank you for what you did today," I began, "I know it was you who led me to find Shiro. Without your help, I would have never found him, and he would have been lost to the stars." I reached to touch my face to wipe a stray tear, "I'm sorry for all the times I blamed you for taking him away from me, I know that you must have had your reasons. I don't know if you are listening or if I'm talking to an empty husk, but know this, I am forever grateful for what you have done." I looked up at the lion as it sat there in silence and gave it a smile before turning around to leave. Just as I was about to walk towards the door, the hangar shook, and the Black Lion gave a loud piercing roar. I turned around surprised at its action, it stood on all fours analyzing me with its amber colored eyes. Deep rumbles emanated from its chest as it took a few steps forward. The lion cocked its head to the side as if waiting for me to move, but I was too shocked to even flinch. I stood there with my mouth open, breathing slowly not knowing how to react. The Black Lion took another step forward until it almost hovered over me, but what it did next, I was totally unprepared for. It lifted its right paw off the ground bending it back and lowered its head to the ground. It was a sign of reverence the Drakos did when they greeted my father and, in some occasions, me. I never in my lifetime expected the Black Lion to bow down to me knowing how proud he was. He was a black Drako, one of the strongest that ever lived more than fifteen thousand years ago, he was known as Shadow.

I snapped out of my trance and slightly bowed my head in acknowledgement, he lifted his head up and went back to his original position as if nothing had happened. If only my father was here to tell me what in the universe just happened.

~Couple Days Later~

Shiro recuperation was going faster than I had anticipated, he seemed to be regaining his strength with each passing day. It was getting harder to keep him in bed, he nagged me like a child to let him out of his room and help the team, but I wasn't budging. Call me paranoid, but he spoke the truth, he seemed alright and more than ready to step up and defend the universe with us. Only complained about a slight headache, which he explained went away when I was close.

Soon, Pidge found another lead to a Galra outpost whereabouts and we had to depart to take it down. According to her, she was positive we would be able to find more information on that base useful to our fight. To my dismay it would be the first time I had to be apart from Shiro since his arrival. He wanted to come with me, but I told him it would be best for him to stay behind and get all the rest he could get. I kissed him goodbye and headed towards my hangar to follow the other Paladins.

We were currently hiding on the upper levels of the Galra hangar analyzing our next move, the ground floor was covered by sentries patrolling the area. Everything was bathed in the signature purple light of all Galra facilities, the sentries' visors glowed a crimson red.

"Alright, team, I've got my eye on the targets." Lance said over the comm from the ledge he was currently on. He was on one knee with his riffle aimed at one of the sentry's head. "I'll cover you from up he-" He was cutoff as Keith charged in and began to take down the nearest sentries. "Hey, Keith, I had that guy!" Lance complained shooting other sentries down as Keith continued on his rampage. I moved to aid Keith as more sentries started to circle around him, I took them down by jumping on them from the upper level and sliced their heads off.

"Keith, don't forget to cover your back as well!" I yelled.

He grunted as he fought and sliced the sentry on the chest powering it off, "What for? I got you for that."

I rolled my eyes at him and stabbed a sentry that came up behind me, its loud footsteps giving it away.

"They're still coming!" Hunk yelled shooting down any sentry that came to close to him.

Lance shot the door panel shutting the door on a sentry, cutting it in half. Hunk looked up at him giving him a thumbs up and a wide smile. I looked over at Allura who was being surrounded but she quickly made good work of them, they fell sparking at her feet.

"Well, that was awesome!" Lance cheered on Allura lowering his weapon.

"If only does were the last." I grunted as more flooded the room. I summoned my shield to block incoming laser fire, as Pidge worked on the control panel, and chucked my sword at them. It went flying in an arc, slicing their weapons in half, I extended my hand out to summon it back to me, which it complied. Keith saw the opportunity and sliced their bodies in half before they could arm themselves again, he came to take point besides me with his shield up, Allura and Hunk soon joined as well.

"Pidge, could you maybe hurry it up a little?" Hunk complained.

"Almost." Pidge answered as the panel began to beep, "There!"

The energy core shut down and the sentries stopped firing at us, dropping to the floor lifeless.

"Great job, Pidge." Keith praised still eyeing the robots.

"That's the last outpost in this quadrant." Pidge informed.

"Great." I responded, "We need to inform The Blade of Marmora that this base has been cleared."

We headed back into the lions and made our way to the castle. I got out of my Paladin armor and into a black tight fitted shirt, pants that hug my legs closely and my favorite golden flats. Every time I dress like this, Pidge always mentioned I looked like an Earthling, that I would fit in well with them. Perhaps I might even consider one day, when this war was over, to call Earth my home, but that stilled looked too far to even start worrying about.

I made my way out of my room and across the hall to Shiro's, his eyes lit up when he saw me enter, "How are you doing?" I asked as I sat down on the edge and place a hand on his leg.

"Better with you here." I smiled widely at his comment and looked down at my lap, a slight heat rose to my cheeks, he still had the ability to cause that effect on me.

"Well I'm glad you enjoy my company." I chuckled, "How is your head?"

"It's fine, it comes and goes. It usually vanishes when you come around, it's strange." He responded when I looked up.

"I sincerely hope that's not an excuse to pry me from the others." I said with a playful grin, now it was my turn to make him heat up, I felt how his body rouse in temperature through the hand I placed on him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He tried to play it cool.

There was a slight nock on the door and I called whoever was outside to come in, Keith walked in, "Hey, Keith. Come to check up on Shiro?"

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to him." I patted Shiro's legs and stood up to take my leave.

"I'll leave you two to talk in peace, I'll be in the control room if anyone needs me." Keith nodded, and I exited the room, Storm was coming down the hallway. He came to a stop and placed his snout on my forehead as a greeting.

 _"I'm happy to see you more cheerful these past few days."_

 _"Yes! I feel like my heart will explode of happiness every time I think about Shiro's return."_

 _"I know."_ He chuckled, _"I can sense your strong feeling from him to the point where I might barge in there and kiss him myself."_

I looked at him wide eyed until I exploded in a fit of laughter grabbing my stomach and doubling over, Storm joined in, his laughter in my head. I finally composed myself and began to walk towards the control room with him in tow.

 _"I sometimes forget how deeply connected we are."_ I said with amusement laced in my thoughts, _"I can try to mask them if they make you feel uncomfortable._

 _"No, don't do that. I like to feel your emotions entangled with mine. That is how it always has been, and it will continue to be for the rest of our lives."_

 _"Side by side, not even death can pull us apart."_ I completed his thought. It was a promise we made to each other as younglings. We would say it to each other when we did something worth remembering. When we grew up, it became more of a need to say it before going into battle.

 _"Yes, side by side, not even death can pull us apart."_ He repeated.

I placed a hand on his snout before walking into the control room, his chest vibrated as he hummed in satisfaction of the moment. His deep blue eyes observed me like in our reunion back on Olkarion. In my lifetime, I had experienced different types of love. The feeling between parent and child, friend to friend, subject to subject, and most recently love with Shiro, but with Storm it was something that I couldn't explain. Our feelings were so mended together that sometimes I don't know what's mine or his, all I know is I can't live without him; he's the last family I've got, a last connection to my past.

Our moment was broken when we heard footsteps heading our way, Keith was coming down to hallway toward us. I pulled my hand back and took a step forward, the doors opening for me. Everyone else was at their stations working on finding new leads to Galra bases or something that could guide us the comet Lotor took from us, that is everyone except for Lance. He was standing by his chair with his arms crossed glancing at Allura working on her panel. Lance looked at her with longing. I rolled my eyes and walked to my seat hovering my hand in front of me, activating my control panel. Storm took point beside me looking over my shoulder as I worked. Together, we analyzed every quadrant carefully so as not to miss anything unusual. The doors to the control room suddenly opened and we turned around to see Shiro coming in with his usual attire which consisted of a short-sleeved shirt, black pants, and black combat boots. His hair had been shortened and his face cleaned up, he looked younger and more handsome than ever. He stepped in and placed his hands on his hips, "Great job out there, everyone." He said with a smile, "You've really turned the tide in this war. I'm glad you never lost sight of the mission while I was gone." Everyone smiled at the compliment.

"You're looking better. How are you feeling?" Lance asked.

"Good." He responded, "Just trying to get rid of this weird headache." He touched his temple.

"Guys, I think I have something here!" Pidge suddenly exclaimed raising her hand.

"Great." I said moving to stand by her chair, everyone else did the same.

"So, I downloaded intel from the Galra base we just defeated." She explained, "I united the quantum-folded encryption, and I found something on Lotor."

"Do you know where he is?" Keith asked crossing his arms.

"Well, not exactly, no, but the last three sightings of his command ship have been in the Va'Kar quadrant," She answered.

"Nice work Pidge." Shiro said, "Although, those quadrants are massive. How will we pinpoint his location?"

Hunk looked up from the screen, "Hey, that comet is made from the same material as Voltron. Maybe I can scan the emission spectrum for Fraunhofer lines, like when I found the Blue Lion!"

"Hunk might be on to something." I said in thought tapping my chin with a finger.

"But you know those emission are subject to free induction decay." Pidge argued, "Those are exponential drop-offs."

"Yeah, but if you could find a way to amplify the sensors-" Hunk trailed off in thought, "No, there'd be way too much interference. What if, instead, we increase the S.A magnitude?"

Pidge lifted up a finger, "The spires of the castle!"

"Genius!" Hunk exclaimed with her and both ran out of the control room like we weren't even there.

"I have no idea what either of them just said." Lance said confused.

"Let's set a course for the Va'Kar quadrant while they get started on that detector." Shiro said, "We need to work fast. Who knows what Lotor has planned for that comet?"

"True, Lotor has proven to be unpredictable." I commented moving back to my seat.

The others dispersed, each going to do their own thing. I wanted to keep looking more into this Va'kar quadrant, maybe I could spot something in the scanners that would allow us to get there with a bit more of information, instead of going in blind. Hopefully Hunk and Pidge could get the scanner ready quickly to have a better idea of what were up against. Coran was up front on his control panel setting in the coordinates as I worked, while Allura continued to work on her panel on the navigation platform. Storm lost interest and placed his head on his front talons, every once in a while, looking through my eyes at my progress. Shiro came to stand beside me and placed a hand on my shoulder to let me know he was there, "Anything?"

"No," I responded rubbing my forehead, "There is not much information on this quadrant. We still don't have a decent map of the galaxy."

"Hey," he squeezed my shoulder, "Don't get frustrated, everything will work out fine."

I grabbed his hand and looked up at him with a smile, "Thanks."

He crouched down to my level and swiped my screen with a finger, "Our scanners are really not picking up anything here."

"But," I said dragging out the word, "We know there has to be something of interest; to have Lotor's ship flying around in that sector more than ones is suspicious."

"Yeah," He looked at me, "I still think its creepy for Zarkon to have a son, he didn't seem like the fatherly type."

"Same here, it surprised me when I found out, but to what I remember, Zarkon wasn't always such a vile person, he was…" I trailed off trying to find the right word, "Nice?"

Shiro laughed, "Nice?"

"Well, yeah." I responded fiddling with my hands, "To what I know, he was a good leader of the Galra. I don't think my father would have befriended him if he was evil from the start. The comet's quintessence is what drove him mad and corrupted his mind, making him hunger for power. I visited his planet a few times during the construction of the lions, I was very small at that point."

"I guess you're right, no one is born evil." He touched my cheek with a finger and gave me a kiss on the lips before standing up and heading to check up on Coran. Everything was quiet with soft murmurs coming from the front until Pidge and Hunk came back running to sit are their stations to test out their scanner. They typed away on their panels babbling to themselves.

"I got it!" Hunk exclaimed suddenly making me jump a little, Storm lifted his head so quickly he almost hit his head on my seat.

"That's great, Hunk." I praised placing a hand over my heart.

"Pass me the coordinates." Coran said. Hunk with a swipe of his finger send them over to Coran and we began to move to that location. We moved so fast that the stars looked like blurs.

"Okay, we're gaining on it." Hunk informed.

"Make sure we stay far back enough to be undetected." Shiro ordered. He stood beside his old seat next to Keith.

"Looks like the signal stopped in the Ulippa System. Activating long-range scanners." Pidge said, an image of a Galra ship appeared on screen.

Keith stood up analyzing it, "That's not their ship."

"But the comet is in there." Hunk said.

"Okay, team, we need to get that-" Shiro began but was cut off by Keith who also began to give instructions.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Keith apologized when he realized he had talked over him, "Go ahead, Shiro."

They looked at each other still trying to decide on who would give the orders until I decided to mobilize, "Guys, we need to move fast. Who knows what they are up to with that comet, we need to get in and get out with it intact."

Suddenly the Galra ship began to attack the base below, leaving us very confused at what we were seeing.

 _"What is going on?"_ Storm asked.

"Who the heck are these guys?" Lance asked.

"I don't think they're moving the comet to that base." Shiro stated, "We need more information." He sat down on Keith's chair to think.

"You're right." Keith said, "You take the Black Lion. I'll stay with Coran in the castle and provide support." He finished, placing a hand on Shiro's shoulder.

"Keith are you sure?" Shiro asked.

"I'm sure."

 _Could the Black Lion have two Paladins?_ I asked myself unsure.

The rest of us headed quickly to change into our Paladin armors and launched out of the castle at full speed, there was no time to lose after what we had just witnessed. Someone wanted that comet, and whoever they were would stop at nothing to obtain it, we needed to get to it first. We broke through the atmosphere heading for a safe place to land the lions.

"Shiro, where are you? We need you right now!" Lance asked, the Black Lion was nowhere in sight.

"Shiro?" I asked worried.

After a few ticks the Black Lion finally came into view, but it wasn't Shiro who piloted it, I guess that answered my question from before. Keith landed, and we activated our speeders zooming off towards the Galra base.

"The most important thing is for you to get eyes on that comet." Shiro stated over the comm, "Second is figure out who we're dealing with."

We parked our speeders a few clicks away from the base and moved towards one of the entries. There were two Galra sentries guarding the entrance to the hangar, we peaked behind a big boulder analyzing our options. The terrane around us mostly consisted of rocky canyons, secluded from the rest of the planet. I touched the ground and shifted the rock above the sentry's heads crumbling a chuck off, crushing them.

"That was easy." Lance commented.

"Don't jinx it, Lance." Pidge hissed as we moved forward. Keith placed his hand on the control panel, but the doors would not open. Lance summoned his Bayard and shot at the control panel making the doors finally open. The corridors looked empty of soldiers, which was pretty strange for a Galra ship.

"Shiro, we've just boarded the ship." Keith informed, "There's no crew in sight. Moving forward with the search."

We kept moving forward with are weapons ready. Lance shot at another door's control panel opening it. Hunk looked down at his scanner which continued to beep, he moved it around trying to find the right frequency. He pointed it to the hallway on the right which caused the device to start beeping rapidly, "This way." Hunk said quietly.

"Sounds like the fight next door is over." Keith said, "Let's hurry."

We followed his lead, as we moved forward the beeping continued. We came across a smaller hangar that stowed a small ship, "The comet should be in there." Hunk informed looking at the lone ship.

"Like, right here?" Lance asked confused looking around, "Where's the comet? Is it in the ship?"

"That ship is too small to hold it." I said studying it.

"I think the ship is the comet." Hunk said, he moved closer to it and his scanner began to beep uncontrollably.

"No, it can't be!" Allura exclaimed madly, "They already made a ship from the comet's ore?"

"How could they have manufactured a ship this fast? It seems highly unlikely." I said stunned.

"The scanners don't lie, Taylin." Hunk said.

"Oh, this is bad." Lance voiced.

"More like horrible." Pidge stated.

"Guys-" Shiro called over the comm, Pidge projected a screen of him from her wrist, "There's a piece of the teludav inside the Galra base."

"The one we used the wormhole Zarkon's ship?" Lance asked.

"But they would never be able to operate it without an Altean-" Allura began, "Zarkon's witch! She had Altean markings."

My gaze landed on her surprised at the revelation, Haagar was Altean, that explained a lot of things.

"Is anyone else kind of freaking out?" Hunk asked.

"Yep," Lance said raising his hand, "Mark me down for one freak-out."

"Lotor must be nearby. We need to find him at take him out for good." Keith stated.

"Team, you cannot let Lotor get that ship." Shiro said sternly, "You need to get back to your lions. You need Voltron!"

"Why take out one ship when we can stop all of this by taking out Lotor himself?" Keith argued, "We can't let him keep outsmarting us."

"That's exactly why we can't risk letting Lotor have that ship. This is too important." Shiro shot back.

"Keith, Shiro has a point." I said, "The best shot we have at preventing Lotor from taking the ship is with Voltron. We need to head back to the lions quickly."

"Okay." Keith began, "You guys go back to the lions. I'm gonna search the ship for Lotor."

It was not the answer I wanted to hear, he was being stubborn again. "Keith, you need to stick together." Shiro ordered.

"Yeah, I'm with Shiro on this one." Lance said.

"As am I." Allura added.

"Me too." Pidge voiced.

"Yeah, man." Hunk stated.

I wanted to agree with the others, but I kind of felt bad neglecting Keith's leadership. I stayed quiet and looked at him with pleading eyes. He returned my gaze with a blank face until he finally sighed and gave in, "Fine. Let's move." I gave him a small smile and ran after him to exit the hangar. We retraced our steps to the exit, but when we were finally going to make it out, four females blocked our exit. One of them saw us and looked confused at our presence but quickly changed and pounced with a battle cry. Allura moved just in time before she could punch her, her hand hit the ground hard. The other three began to attack us, I went for the nearest one. She was different than the others, slimmer and her skin was not purple. She began to jump around dodging Lance's shots. I concentrated on her every move staying back from the fight and slowly circling around. As she jumped for the tenth time, she was about to come down when I shifted the floor up to meet her sending her flying back. "Floor, meet face." I said with a smirk.

"So not funny!" She retaliated and came at me trying to land a punch. I summoned my Bayard into a bow staff and side step her; her fist mare inches from my face. I quickly turned around and hit her in the back of her knees making her loose balance. "Who knew that the Queen of the Drakie was so cunning." She shot back.

"You don't want to mess with me child, I was born before you even existed." I jumped at her brining my staff to hit her head, she was able to block me with a small dagger. I spun my staff around hitting her side and making her take a few steps back. "Don't bring a knife to a sword fight, and in this case a bow staff." My comment enraged her, she came running back with a scream. I took her rashness as an opportunity and kicked her in the stomach, landed a right hook to her chin and hit her left side with my staff. The colorful alien went flying to the right, landing on the ground with a load thud. The other Paladins were having a bit more trouble with their adversaries, especially the biggest female of them all. She was currently fighting Allura, she went to grab her, but I threw my staff at her hand making her retreat it. Allura turned to me with a small smile in thanks. She grabbed my weapon and threw it back to me. "We don't have time for this." Keith grunted, "We need to get to the lions."

"Good idea." Lance agreed holding a thumb up while lying on his stomach. Allura went to help him, she grabbed his collar with one hand and brought him up to a standing position.

"Let's go." I said and retreated towards the exit with the others close behind. We ran back to the speeders and hurried back to the lions, once inside, the rocky canyon passed by in a haze.

"Okay, seriously, what is going on?" Lance asked, "I mean, who were they?"

"I've met one of them before, in the weblum." Keith responded, "She stole some of the scaultrite."

"Allura, you said they had an Altean?" Hunk said, "They must be trying to build a teludav, so they can make wormholes."

"If they have turned the comet into a ship, we have much bigger concerns." She responded.

"I thought Lotor took over for Zarkon." Pidge said, "Why are they attacking a Galra base?"

"It appears that Lotor has a secret agenda." I answered, "One that doesn't involve the Empire. If we have just heard of him recently, then it stands to reason he did not have the greatest relationship with his father."

"I don't know," Keith said, "That's why we have to stop them here and now."

When we broke through the atmosphere, a Galra cargo ship was taking the piece of the teludav. "Team, where are you?" Shiro asked.

"We can't take another hit like that!" Coran grunted.

We shot a laser at the ship firing on the castle making it change its course, we went after it. "Form sword!" Keith ordered.

I moved Voltron towards the ship trying to get as close as possible to land a hit and slice it in half, but the ship proved to be too quick and agile. Its composition had made it as quick as Voltron.

"It's too quick!" Keith growled.

"Guys, the cargo ship is escaping- with the teludav inside it." Shiro informed.

"I thought taking down the ship made from the comet was the most important thing." Keith said.

"We still can't let them get away with the teludav." Shiro argued.

"Shiro's right." Allura stated, "We need to destroy it"

"But the comet is right here!" Keith yelled, "We need to take it down!"

"Keith the cargo ship is getting away!" Shiro yelled urgently.

I looked at the two screens on my display, one of the cargo ship and the other of the fighter made of the comet. I moved my head side to side trying to decide what to do slowing down Voltron in the process. We couldn't let the Galra have the ability to wormhole, it would be much harder to find them that way, so I made up my mind. I moved us towards the cargo ship, but the pilot of the fighter was not having it. It shot a variety of lasers at our back, Pidge summoned the shield just in time.

"Guys, the teludav's getting away." Hunk informed the obvious.

"We know Hunk." I shot back.

"Keith, what should we do?" Lance asked.

"You're going to have to lower your shield, shoot the cargo ship and deal with the consequences." Shiro instructed on our screens.

"We can beat this ship first, and then get the cargo ship." Keith argued.

"There's not enough time!" Shiro yelled back, "You need to make a decision!"

I sighed and closed my eyes for a tick, "Hunk, get ready to summon the cannon and Pidge, lower the shield when instructed."

"Ready?" Keith asked.

"Ready!" They answered.

"Go!" Keith ordered, on cue Pidge lowered the shield and the shoulder cannon appeared. All my attention was on the fighter behind us, the instant the shield was lowered, it fired. I quickly pulled on my handles bringing us to the left, the large beam from the fighter passed inches away from us and hit the cargo ship blowing the teludav up. The fighter fired a second time and managed to hit us, we screamed at the force of the impact. The beam hit the chest of Voltron head on, as the others were rattled, I screamed in pain. I could feel the pain of my lion course through me like it was my own. The fighter finally stopped firing and circled around us before disappearing into space at light speed.

"So, Lotor was attacking the Galra base and trying to steal the teludav?" Lance was the first one to speak, "None of this makes any sense."

"We can talk about this later." Pidge said, "They're getting away!"

"We need to go after them." Keith added.

I shook my head trying to clear my head and get my vision straight again.

"No. Get back to the castle." Shiro ordered, "Something strange is going on here, and we need to figure it out."

"I'm sure we can easily catch up to them and destroy that ship." Keith argued.

"No, Keith," I said softly, "I don't think I'm in any condition to help you pilot Voltron. The hit was strongest in my area."

"Taylin, are you alright?" Shiro asked concerned.

"Yes, I just…I just don't think I'm up for another confrontation."

"Let's get back to the castle." Keith ordered having no other option.

We disbanded back into lions and landed in our hangars; the castle began to move away from the Galra cruiser. I stayed sitting in my seat, not wanting to move for nothing. I leaned back and closed my eyes until I heard a noise coming from above me and the cockpit doors opened. "I came looking for you since you didn't join us in the control room." Shiro said removing my helmet, "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine." I said with a small smile and half lidded eyes.

"I should have never let you go on this mission." He began to blame himself.

I placed a hand on his arm, "It is my duty to fight alongside the other Paladins, this is not your fault or anyone's."

He sighed, "I just don't want to lose you."

"In that, we have a mutual understanding."

He picked me up in his arms to take me to my room, his footsteps swayed me, I was a sleep before he placed me on the welcoming comfort of my bed.

* * *

Thanks for reading!

Sorry I have been absent for the last two week, I've been really busy lately.

So, who is ready for season six, I know I am. I'm super exited!

Also, I wanted to know your thoughts on something. Would you like me to right a chapter from one of Taylin's parents to give a bit of more back story to her or just continue the next chapter on her point of view. Please comet, I would love to get feed back on that before I start writing.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

 **Tales of a King**

 _-Ten-thousand years ago- King Fireheart POV_

Fire can be the destruction of all things, consuming everything in its path, leaving nothing but pain and ashes. This is what I saw before my eyes, death's embrace all around me. How can such a proud race fall to the clutches of war? Fellow brothers and sisters fighting, and for what? A so-called peace that we claim we want to accomplish. Not even the sky glowed blue and yellow with the magnificent light of our sun. It was dark and hollow like it mourned for the fallen.

I became king in a time where my people, the Drakie, fought against the dark order. Invaders who thought they were above all others. They tried to take control of our kingdom by force and twist it into their very own image. My father, King Darius, gave his life in this war to save mine. I saw him fall at my side, and I could not do anything to stop it. Not long after that, Nimawe, my bounded Drako fell to the war as well. She fought bravely, standing strong with her believe that I could rule over our people the way my father had. I vowed to put an end to the war, for her, to set future generations free of any war hungering. My children to come would not know the pain and suffering that it brought with it, I just could not allow it. So, I set out to-do what no other king had been able to accomplish for many generations, to unite all the clans. Together we would be stronger, with all the elements put together, we would be unstoppable.

The last battle took place in the cold mountains of Helma; that day our footsteps warmed the snow and we took victory into our hands. Drakies of all different clans stood back to back fending of fiends; they disappeared into a cloud of dark smoke when our swords trespassed their bodies. It was like they burned and turned into ash, nothing more fitting after all they had done. Drakos of so many colors flew in the sky, biting and lashing out with their tails; it was a marvelous sight, if not terrifying. I would never forget that day, because it was the day that everything changed. Not just for all people, but for me. It was the day I met my dear Talise, a female of the water clan. She was surrounded by fiends, but to my surprise she fended them off all on her own. I stood and watched amazed at her speed, how her dark brown hair moved with her every strike. It was hard to believe that someone as slim as her could be such an admirable warrior. When I was finally able to see her face, she took my breath away. I had my fair share of women who chased after me for a chance to marry the Prince of the Drakie, but none of them were as beautiful as her.

When the war was over, I searched for her, but I was let down when she showed no interest in me. She seemed not to be fazed at standing before her king. I tried everything to gain her attention, and often slipped out of the castle to observe her beyond the trees, but nothing worked. This woman was stubborn. I sought out my close friend Alfor, King of the Alteans, but he too was having a bit of trouble with his new-found love. I reached my limit of desperation and often busied myself with matters of the kingdom to try to forget. It was not until one day I was determined to confront her, to find out why she did not return my affection.

I entered the water clan's citadel, ignoring everyone who bowed down in reverence, I had my eyes set on my goal. I stormed up to her cutting off her conversation with three other women, they backed up looking down a bit afraid.

Talise turned around to look at me surprised to see me, "Is there something I can help you with, King Fireheart?" She asked in her melodic voice.

I gazed down at her, but she did not even flinch when I looked straight into her eyes, "I need to speak with you." I looked behind her to see the other women edging closer, "In private."

"Um, sure." She began to move towards the tree line, far away from any prodding ears. She looked at the forest with her soft green eyes for a few ticks until she finally sighed and turned to face me, "What is it that you wanted to speak to me about?"

I was so mesmerized by her that I almost forgot why I had come to her in the first place, I had created a whole speech in my head but what came out instead was, "Is there something wrong with me?"

"What?" She asked confused not understanding what I was getting at.

I took a deep breath and found courage in it, "I am sure you have noticed my intentions with you, Talise. Everyone has seen that I fancy you, but you seem to have no interest in me."

She looked away and gazed upon one of the leaves of a low hanging branch, "I always imagine myself as someone who can fend for myself and a helper to does in need." She began still not returning my gaze, "I'm not like other women who seek to be in the comfort of their home and bare children. I am a warrior." I grabbed ahold of the fallen branch rising it up, my action seemed to startle her, but she finally looked at me, "I don't want to be a mare decoration on a pedestal." She confessed.

I wanted to smile, but decided to remain serious, "I don't want someone, who like you put it, be a decoration at my side. I want someone who will help me take decisions, help others, fight alongside me, and someday build a family with." She observed me with an intense gaze, "I love you, Talise. Since the first time I saw you."

She stood there still gazing at me after my revelation, it was making me anxious that she had not said a word, but suddenly she smiled. "You could have said that since the first day you know. It could have saved me a few sleepless nights."

"Wait…" I was too stunned to grasp her meaning, so she continued to speak.

"I feel the same." She stepped forward to place a hand on my arm, that's when I placed my head back into reality and lunged at her to pick her up and spin her around. She laughed at my action, and I kissed her forehead, "Alright, alright, I'll marry you." She said in between laughs as I kept spinning her around.

It was not long after that, in spring, that Talise and I were married. It was the happiest day of my life. After so much lose and chaos, she brought light into my life and the Drakie had a queen now. She surprised me by showing so much care for her new position as queen but overall never lost her humbleness. Talise stood by my side in every decision creating a better Negetia for our people.

Alfor and I, alongside four other leaders became close friends and despite our difference, we managed to create an alliance for establishing peace. We would often set out helping other planets end their wars or establish peace in each of our planets, always coming to the aid of one another. We would not stand for any of does who would bring harm to innocent lives; we had a common goal. There were does who would take from the people who had very little or pirates who would take what did not belong to them.

We had managed to track these pirates to a swampy planet, Alfor was hot on their trail. He always ran ahead and took decisions on instinct instead of planning them out, he would often tease me about thinking too much. I grunted as I held on to my white sword tightly and ran after him, he had just ran into a cavern full of does space pirates. Blaytz, Zarkon, Trigel, and Gyrgan, followed my lead. When we arrived at the closed cavern doors, Zarkon charged forward and broke them open with his strength. Alfor, as what I thought, was surrounded with more than twelve pirates all pointing their guns at him. I kicked the nearest one and sliced the gun of another in half. The others began to take down their own adversaries, they were no match for us skilled warriors.

"Alfor, you should really stop running ahead and getting yourself in trouble." I scolded. He roused from the ground slowly, holding his shoulder.

"You are much more knowledgeable as an alchemist than a soldier." Zarkon commented.

"That's what I keep you around for, Zarkon." Alfor responded with a smirk.

"Well, at least you served as a distraction for a great entrance." Blaytz added holding his head high with a smile. We laughed at his comment.

"Now, now, I made a great entrance too." Alfor shot back in a joking manner.

"I say we should hold a feast at our great victory today." Gyrgan stated rubbing his stomach.

"Always thinking with your stomach." Trigel said pocking his side with her staff.

"What? All this fighting has made me hungry." Gyrgan retaliated.

"Well in that case, banquet is on me." Zarkon said with a smile.

We left the cavern and headed back to our ship, we had come in the Alfor's ship, The Castle of Lions. Talise's faces lit up when she saw me and ended the conversation with Alfor's wife, Emelia, to come and greet me. She gave me a hug and ran her eyes over me inspecting me for damage, "How it go?"

"We caught them inside a cavern after Alfor ran in and got himself stuck with a so dozen of them."

"Sounds like him." She said with a laugh.

"Oh Alfor, you should really be careful more." Emelia said touching her husband's face.

"Where are we headed now?" Talise asked.

"We are going to Daibazaal, Zarkon will host a feast in honor of our victory there."

We followed Alfor the control room where he took his stance on the small platform in the middle of the room. Two small pillars rouse from the ground until they came into contact with his hands, they lit up white when they finally connected. Coran set a course to Daibazaal and Alfor opened a wormhole passing us through, soon before us was Zarkon's rustic red, half sphere, planet. We disembarked to head to the main base's diner hall. I grabbed a hold of my wife's hand as we walked through the corridors, her long white and gold tunic trailing behind her. I stepped forward to pull out a chair for her and she graciously complied with a smile, I took a seat next to Alfor. Others took their spots on the across from us while Zarkon his usual place at the head of the table. Coran, being Alfor's loyal servant, stood behind his chair, attentive to anything his King or Queen might need. Galra servants came out from a corner door and began to serve tantalizing dishes, I hadn't noticed how hungry I really was until the smell hit my nose. Everyone began to take small bytes of their food and sips of their drinks, while Gyrgan stuffed his faced with anything in his path, Talise looked at him wide eyed at how much he could fit in his mouth.

We began to laugh and make jokes of our previous mission, often teasing Alfor of his rashness. The whole atmosphere felt joyful as our laughter filled the great dining hall.

The servants came back with more drink, Blaytz took his share from one of the servants and smirked at the young servant, "Mm. Pull up a bench and join the feast!"

Zarkon cleared his through startling him, Blaytz ears dropped down and frowned, "You know that fraternizing with the servant class is not permitted." He scolded, "It erodes discipline."

"Well, perhaps a bit of discipline erosion would do you good, Zarkon." Alfor stated setting his drink down.

"Something I will consider the next time you are surrounded by Lambonite scavengers." Zarkon shot back.

"I was handling myself." Alfor stated with a frown.

"Sure, you were my friend." I added with a smirk, Talise nudged me with her elbow. I turned to look at her and she wore a small smile, I pretended her hit hurt by holding my side which only made her smile wider.

"You mean wetting yourself?" Gyrgan said with a wide smirk, which only made Alfor's frown deepen. Everyone began to laugh, Blaytz spit out his drink not being able to contain his laughter.

"Why I ever joined up with this band of scoundrels, I'll never know." Alfor stated.

I slapped him on the back, "Cheer up my friend, it's just friendly teasing."

"Because we're the only band of scoundrels that would have you." Trigel said with a smile. She stood up and raised her goblet high, "To us!"

Just when we were about to raise our goblets as well the dining hall began to shake violently. Red light seeped through the windows above us.

"By Willow!" Gyrgan gasped.

Above us a red ball of fire passed by, it was so bright that I was blinded for a few ticks, I felt Talise take my hand and move closer to me as I stood up. The ground once again shook as the ball of fire made impact with the ground bathing us in a bright dome of yellow light mixed with dust.

"Whatever that was, we need to go investigate as once! We don't know if it might be hostile." I said urgently.

Everyone else nodded and began to run toward the base exit. Talise stayed behind with Alfor's wife as she still sat there shocked. The others had gotten onto speeders and had left me behind by the time my boots made contact with the rocky surface of Zarkon's planet. I began to run after them and jumped of a ledge materializing my wigs and shot forward. I was able to catch up to them in as little as ten ticks as how rapidly I was flapping them. From above I could see the massive crater that the fire ball had made, it glowed with an intense light with different hues of yellows and reds.

The others abandoned their speeders close to the ledge of the crater and began to descend, trying to get a better look at what was below. I came down next to Alfor, landing loudly and spreading dust particle in the air as I folded my wings close to my back. I waved my hand in front of me, sending a strong gust of wind through the landscape, clearing the dust. There, before us, stood a giant grey comet with glowing green veins that extended throughout its surface.

"What is that?" I asked shocked.

"Looks like an asteroid." Trigel commented.

"This is not a type of asteroid I ever seen before." Zarkon added.

"We need to investigate what this is, in the meantime, we must evacuate the people surrounding the creator." I advised.

Zarkon nodded and began to call upon his forces to send a message to his people, twenty vargas later, Alfor and I had set up a lab surrounding the comet. With my ability to withstand high heat, I was able to break off a small chuck of the comet for Alfor to study. Once I handed it to him, he began to move rapidly analyzing every theory of what the rock might be. I watched him move throughout the lab like a swift Drako, not letting anything distract him.

I lost track of time, just sitting on a stool looking at the small chunk of rock under Alfor's instruments. It was fascinating to see the veins of the rock pulse as if it was alive. Something about it called to me, its energy was something I had never felt before. I was leaning towards it to try to touch it when Alfor smacked my hand away and Zarkon came in informing us that all Galra surrounding the crater had been evacuated.

"What have you discovered?" Zarkon asked.

"We're not sure." Alfor responded leaning forward to analyze the stone once more, "This comet is like none seen before. It seems to be made of a material that can pass between realities."

"You mean to tell us, that this comet is not from this reality?" I asked.

"Well, I mean that sages have always theorized that there are many realities stacked side by side with each other." Alfor responded moving away from his sample to the hole in the center of the lab, "Whole other universes with their own histories unbeknownst to us. But we never had proof, until now. When we moved the comet, we found this."

Inside the hole glowed an intense yellow and I could make out people below analyzing what seemed to be a crack on the ground.

"This…" Zarkon began, "Is another reality?"

All three of us began to edge forward trying to get a better view, but suddenly Zarkon screamed making us quickly take a step back, "What is that?!" By Zarkon's feet stood a small black and brown animal meowing up at him.

"Do not worry." A female Altean said as she kneeled to grab ahold of the animal, "It is only Kova. He is from our reality." She stood up and the feline sat on her shoulder looking at Zarkon with big yellow eyes.

Zarkon stood their shocked looking down at the Altean with his mouth hanging open, I looked at him amused and placed a hand over my mouth trying to scuffle a laugh.

"Zarkon, Glerd, this is Honerva." Alfor introduced, "She is the best alchemist on Altea. I asked her to come to Daibazaal and lead the scientific investigation. Her expertise will be invaluable.

"Isn't it exciting?" Honerva said happily, "It could change the way we understand our entire universe."

Zarkon finally found his voice again and glanced another way, "Well, find out everything you can. I will provide any support you require. I must go." He quickly turned around, his black cape flying behind him, and left rapidly like he had seen a ghost.

"He didn't stay long." Honerva pointed out.

Alfor and I looked at our mutual friend with smirks at his strange behavior.

From that point on, Alfor took pieces of the comet back to his lab on Altea. Talise and I when back to our planet to watch over our people and tend to any matters. It was a time of piece, and it would have felt complete if only we were blessed with a child. Months passed by and I assured Talise that there was not pressure at all, we would have a child when the time was right, but she seemed to think otherwise. She would often take walks in the Castle's garden looking up at the sky, smelling and touching the plants with the most delicate touch of her hand. She would argue that as King, I should have an heir, but I always reminder her that we had our whole life ahead of us. She was the only family I needed, like the very air I breathed.

Her mother often came to visit to lighten her mood, and one day she changed. She began to see the world with a different perspective; with more hope. Talise had journeyed back to her clan claiming she would explain everything at her return. I did not press her on the matter and a few days later, she came back carrying an unhatched Drako egg. It was a dark blue, with thin silver veins that ran on its surface.

"This Drako, will one day belong to our child." Talise said running her hand over it, "It is only right that he will have a piece of me too; a water Drako as a partner."

I touched her face making her look up at me, "You are going to be a great mother someday." She smiled widely and went to store the egg in a chest for safe keeping in our chambers.

Years passed and Alfor had made incredible discoveries about the comet. I would often visit Altea to check up on him and help him with anything he needed. When I returned from one of my trips, my ship landed and Talise stood outside on the landing pad waiting for me. She smiled widely; a smile that could brighten any cloudy day. She came to me and I embraced her tightly. Talise kissed my cheek and whispered in my ear, "You're going to be a father."

I opened my eyes shocked and stopped rubbing her back, too stunned to move. Talise noticing this pulled back confused, "Did you hear what I just said?"

"Can you…Can you repeat that?" I asked finally finding my voice.

"You're. Going. To. Be. A. Father." She said each word with a pause.

I broke out of my trance and lifted her off the ground to twirl her around in circles, "I going to be father!" I screamed for the whole world to hear. I said it over and over again with such joy in my heart, my subjects began to clap and congratulate us.

Talise's stomach began to grow with each passing month, and I would often joke she swallowed a Fasir fruit; a round fruit bigger than my head. She would smile and smack my arm, "Just wait until this Fasir fruits starts running around." She would joke back.

Three months into her pregnancy, Emelia sent a message saying she too was expecting. Alfor threw a banquet on Altea celebrating the coming of our children. Talise and Emelia grew ever closer almost like sisters and would often talk about what they would name their child. They vowed to not learn the sex of the child until he or she was born, which only caused Alfor and I to become frustrated.

Alfor had placed a hand on my shoulder as we looked upon our wives talking and laughing, "Glerd, my friend, this is going to be a long wait."

"I don't understand why they don't want to know what the child will be." I said crossing my arms.

Alfor chuckled, "Is there one thing I learned, is that women are the strangest creatures in the universe."

I smiled at his comment, "Your definitely right about that."

A couple of months later, Talise and I had a beautiful girl. The first time I held her in my arms and she opened her eyes, I wanted to give her every star in heaven; they were a soft green, brown, and gold. She mesmerized me and captivated my heart. She was as beautiful as her mother, that's when a name popped into my head and I whispered it to her, she reacted to it and gurgled moving her arms inside the blanket she was wrapped in.

"What did you call her?" Talise asked lowly.

"Taylin."

She glanced up at the ceiling of our chamber and slowly a smile appeared on her face, "I like it." I walked to the side of the bed to gently place our child into her arms. "Welcome, Taylin Fireheart, Princess of the Drakie." She said and placed a light kiss to her forehead. I sat on the edge of the bed and placed an arm over Talise's shoulders bring them both toward me, "I chose that name, because she reminds me of you."

She looked up at me with a smile, "What are you talking about? She looks exactly like you."

"Be it as it may, she is beautiful." I responded giving her a peck on the lips. "She going to be a fine Princess and a great water Drakie, just like her mother."

A few days passed after Taylin's birth, but her wing marks would not appear on her back which had me slight worried. There were whispers in the castle that she was cursed by the ancients. Talise upon hearing this, refused to leave her side, watching her every move. Ten quitants passed, and what happened next left everyone with their mouth open. Golden wings had manifested on Taylin's back, when I looked down at her I had to blink a couple of times to make sure that I was seeing properly. Talise had placed her on our bed, on her side; she was fast asleep not aware of what was going on around her.

"Glerd, how is this possible?"

"I do not know, Talise." I answered not removing my eyes from Taylin's small back, "This is practically impossible. No female has ever been born with the golden symbol of the Firehearts. It was always a boy to be born witch such a gift."

She moved to sit close to our child, "What does this mean? Glerd, I'm scared for our little girl." Her eyes reflected concern and I moved to kneel in front of her taking her hands in mine, "You don't have to be afraid. If the ancients have blessed our child with this gift, then they believe that she is strong enough to carry such a burden." Talise nodded and reached to wipe a stray tear.

"You're right."

The news of a girl becoming the next Queen of the Drakie spread like wild fire throughout the land. Everyone gasped or simply could not believe that it was true. One-night strange noises began to come from inside our chambers. Talise immediately stood up to check on our daughter, but she was unperturbed by the noise. It sounded like something pushing against glass and breaking it into tiny pieces. I went to grab my sword and stood in front on my wife ready for anything, but Talise placed a hand on my shoulder and walked around me.

"What are you doing?! Stay behind me."

"It's alright. I know where that noise is coming from." She went to a faraway corner of our room and stopped in front of a small black chest, "It's the egg."

It has been there for many years that I had forgotten of its existence. I lowered my sword and walked to Talise who began to open the chest carefully. When she finally opened it, two dark blue eyes gazed up at us. The Drako had small horns extending out of its head and it scales reflected many types of blue. It had small white talons, but even with their size, they could cut through anything.

Talise picked him up and walked to Taylin's cradle, letting the small Drako see her for the first time. It suddenly jumped out of her grasp and landed right next to Taylin, she woke startled by the sudden jolt; the Drako looked at her curious when she began to cry. I was about to reach out for her, but the Drako beat me to it. It placed its head right next to her and lowered its body only to place a wing on her small frame, surprisingly she stopped crying and her eyes slowly closed until she was once asleep. From that point on, those two were inseparable, just as I once was with Nimawe. Everywhere Taylin went, he had to go and every time I saw them together I could not help but to smile.

Three quintants later, I received call from Alfor exclaiming with joy that he too had a daughter, which they named Allura. Once they were old enough to sit by themselves we brought them together on Altea. We watched them play together and on occasion pull Taylin's Drako's tail.

"I think our daughters like each other." Emelia commented.

"They sure do." Talise responded, "They are going to be good friends just like you and me."

Soon the two girls were old enough to travel farther distances, Alfor and I decided to bring them long on our trip to Daibazaal to check up on the progress of the rift there. Zarkon was very pleased to see us after such a long time and was surprised to see the two new members of our small families. It was clear that Zarkon did not know how to act around children or females. He awkwardly stared down at the two girls and presented to them with gifts in honor of their birth. The gifts consisted of two small Galra warrior helmets, which Talise and Emelia placed on the girl's heads. They giggled at the sight of their small warriors.

"Honerva has really softened you up, my friend." Alfor said.

"I never thought the day would come were the great Emperor Zarkon would marry." I added.

"Yes, how is the married life treating you?" Talise asked with one of her signature smiles.

"Its…" Zarkon answered scratching his head, "Good."

We left the girls with their mothers and followed Zarkon to Honerva's lab, we found her hard at work on one of the panels.

"Honerva, working hard as always." Alfor commented, "Many thanks for the gifts, the girls love them."

"It was a customary gesture." She answered blankly still looking down at her panel; her comment made us raise our eyebrows, it was not like her.

"Of course." I responded in the same manner.

"How is our quintessence experiment?" Alfor asked.

"Still running." She answered and pointed to her right.

"Running for a full year on one drop of quintessence, with no decline in revolution per dobosh." Alfor said.

"I never seen such an energy like this one." I added fascinated.

"The ships I'm creating for us work on the same principle." Alfor stated, "and the ore from the comet practically engineers itself. It's frightening in a way."

"Endlessly powerful ships for the Galra Empire." Zarkon said.

"And an endless source of clean energy for the entire system." Alfor added.

"Of course." Zarkon complied.

Something behind me suddenly moved and made me almost punch the glass cylinder, "What is that?!"

Honerva finally turned away from her control panel to explain, "I sent some signals into the neighboring reality and this creature answered the call. Nothing from our universe has been able to survive the passage through the rift. But somehow, he arrived unharmed."

"What?" Alfor gasped, "I thought we discussed this." He said with a bit of anger, "We must exercise caution."

"Alfor, is right. We have no means of knowing what is on the other side." I said crossing my arms.

Honerva touched the cylinder causing the wisp to come near her, but once she removed it to turn around it jerked away, "The ancients thought that lighting was shot from the bows of the gods until science proved otherwise. We must always push into dangerous territory in pursuit of knowledge."

"But is it really worth putting everyone on the planet at risk or even the entire galaxy?" I asked.

Honerva was about to answer when the wisp began to screech loudly and hit its glass prison. The lab began to shake and a purple liquid began to gush out of the hole that contained the rift. I took Alfor by the arm pushing him back and placed a protecting dome around us, "We have to get out of here!"

We turned around and began to run to the exit as the liquid began to hit my shield.

"We need to contain this!" Alfor exclaimed.

Honerva looked at my shield, "Perhaps we can place a force field around it. Will you be able to withstand the pressure while we set it up?"

I nodded at her and ran outside to edge of the crater, extending my arms out a yellow dome shield began to materialize rapidly inclosing the rift inside. I could feel the pressure hitting against it and looked it over trying to find an opening where the liquid could come through.

 _"What is going on Glerd?"_ Talise said over our linked minds, _"The Galra all of the sudden began to run out towards the lab."_

 _"There has been some complications, stay with Emelia and the girls."_ I cut her off before she could ask more questions as to not lose my focus on my shield.

"Any time now, Alfor!" I exclaimed over the comm.

"We almost got it, just a bit longer." He responded.

A few ticks passed by when a purple dome began to materialize outside of my shield, once it has covered it whole, I let go of the energy; my shield fading away.

"About time." I said wiping my brow.

"I believe the right words are 'thank you for saving my sorry hide' " Alfor responded.

"Very funny Alfor, I think it's the other way around."

"Perhaps it's time for the others to see the project I have been working on, this might help us contain does creatures that want to escape the rift."

"You think this will help?"

"I'm sure of it."

"Then we should get moving as fast as we can, this force field will not hold forever."

Alfor had been working on a side project one that he called project lion. He had made ships in form of lions from the comets ore making them the fastest and most lethal of the galaxy. I had come down to visit him while he constructed them; his designs where astonishing, but the lions required a power source. Something to give them an edge and separate them from being mare ships, so I offered to help find that edge. I chose six Drako crystal hearts to place in each of the lions. Some of them jumped at the chance to become whole again after their bodies had been taken from them. I chose Shadow from the Black Drakos, Brisinhart a fire Drako, Drakosvane from the nature clan, Azur a water Drako, Meeker an earth Drako and lastly, Nimawe my bonded Drako. I asked her if she would like to take the opportunity to become one with a lion, and she agreed. Nimawe wanted to feel helpful, but I was afraid of what the connection might do to her, but she refused to let the opportunity pass and I had no choice but to take her to Altea and place her inside one of the lions. To my dismay, once her crystal heart was set inside the White Lion, she longer spoke to me. It was as if the lion was just an empty husk.

As Alfor lowered us down to his main lab, everyone looked hesitant of what these so-called ships would look like.

"I trust this plan of yours will work, Alfor." Zarkon said.

Alfor lowered his head and closed his eyes with his arms crossed and waited for the others reactions as the lions came into view from the elevator. Zarkon, Gyrgan, Blaytz, and Trigel looked upon them with awe. I found it funny that even Blaytz was at lose of words.

The elevator finally made it to the lower levels and opened for us, we stood in front of six mighty lions, the Black towering above them all.

"Incredible." Trigel gasped.

"Alfor, they're amazing." Zarkon said, "How do they work?"

"I made them from the quintessence-infused ore of the comet, which provides them with an endless supply of power." Alfor responded, he thankfully kept his word in keeping the secret of the crystal hearts.

"Remarkable!" Zarkon said with a smile.

"The comet aloe also renders them nearly indestructible." Alfor added.

"What sort of weaponry do they have?" Blaytz asked.

"This is where things become more interesting." Alfor responded, "Altean alchemy can accomplish some incredible feats of engineering, as you know. But in testing my ship, I started to feel some sort of psychic link. I'm not sure how to explain it, but the ship wasn't just reading my mind. It was communicating with me. They seem to be evolving. We don't yet know what powers these ships possess, but we may gain understanding with time."

I crossed my arms as Alfor explained, knowing all too well how the connection was established, the Drakos crystal hearts had become one with the lions making them seem alive.

Zarkon brought me out of my thoughts, "Time? Time slips away even as we stand here. My people will soon be slaughtered by dark creatures from another realm." He argued coming closer to Alfor, "Without these ships, all hope is lost."

Alfor looked down in thought with a hint of sadness, but quickly recovered himself, "I understand." He said moving to stand in the center of the lions, we formed a circle looking up at them; they seemed like they were doing the same looking upon us. "It may take some doing. These are not regular ships to be chosen at a whim. You do not pick the beast. The beast will choose you."

Alfor's voice faded away and everyone else in the room vanished as well until I was surrounded by dark room. I turned around when I heard a low growl and there before me, was the White Lion. Her eyes glowed an amber color and her wings extend out from her back like sails. They were no longer pure white, but they slowly became a gold color.

"Nimawe?" I asked hesitantly.

She responded by giving a load piercing roar, and the colors of the room came back. She lowered her head to the ground and opened her jaws to reveal a ramp. I laughed and ran into her jaws only to find myself in a beautifully designed cockpit, I sat of the white pilot seat which suddenly moved forward brining me closer to the control handles. As soon as my hands touched the handles, Nimawe stood up and roared once again; a feeling of warmth enveloped me as our connection was once again established.

"I know, it's good to fly with you once again." I told her with a grin, she responded with a low purr that vibrated my seat.

The other lions had also chosen their pilots. Alfor was with the Red Lion, Blaytz got the Blue, Trigel was chosen by Green, Gyrgan would pilot the Yellow Lion, and Zarkon got the biggest of them all, The Black Lion.

We changed into our armors each with the color our lions and lifted out off out of the hangar. The lions moved with such a speed and agility; I had never piloted such a unique vessel. Blaytz laughed and hollered joyfully as he barrel rolled through the air. Soon the blue sky of Altea disappeared into the vast blackness of space.

"Now, go easy at the beginning," Alfor advised, "This is greater energy than you have ever worked before."

"Perhaps you should lead the formation, Alfor." Zarkon suggested, "You have a greater understanding of the vessels that anyone."

"I'm a better alchemist than a military leader, Zarkon." Alfor argued, "I'll stick with being your right hand."

"Very well, then." Zarkon agreed, "On my mark, Paladins!"

"Paladins, huh?" I said with a smile, "I like the sound of that."

Zarkon made a low sound which I understood as a chuckle, "Right flank, Alfor and Blaytz. Left flank, Trigel and Gyrgan. Glerd take the back flank, right behind me."

We followed orders without hesitation and formed a V; we pushed our handles forward and we were flying through space at an incredible speed. When we arrived at Daibazaal, the creature had already broke free from its dome prison. The Galra soldiers had taken point by the crater, but its quickly made short work of them.

"Paladins, I'll fly ahead and divert its attention." Zarkon said, "The rest of you, attack from all sides!"

Zarkon went towards the monster's head and shot a laser out of the Black Lion's jaws; we followed his instructions and flew in different directions shooting at its back and legs.

"Keep firing!" I ordered, as the monster began to move back from our lasers.

The beast sent purple tendrils after me, I moved to the right to avoid getting hit and turned around quickly shooting a powerful laser beam from Nimawe's jaws. I felt how our connection deepened until our powers became linked, the white laser suddenly became a tunnel of fire as I fed her with said element.

"These blasted things are covering me!" Blaytz exclaimed over the comm.

The monsters had covered the Blue Lion inside a ball, Alfor shot a laser at them that caused them to give up Blaytz. The main monster's head began to glow yellow and it shot a laser beam from it, Alfor, Blaytz, and I managed to move just in time before impact.

"Th-thanks, Alfor!" Blaytz stuttered.

"Anytime." He responded.

From our right, Gyrgan suddenly came at us yelling, "Spinning head smash!" The Yellow Lion began to spin in the air until it was a blur towards the monster, but the beast managed to make a hole in-between its body causing Gyrgan to crash on the ground hard.

"Gyrgan!" I called out worried, but he came out unscathed through another hole on the ground.

"I can't hit it!" He complained.

"Fall back, Paladins! We must regroup!" Zarkon ordered.

"Wait!" Alfor said, "We must come together in formation."

"Sounds like a plan, Alfor, but what good would that do?" I asked.

"I don't know, but somehow I can feel it." He responded.

We began to move into our V shaped formation without another complaint and flew upward towards the crimson sky. A strange energy washed over me, and I could feel the life forces of the other Paladins.

"Hey, I feel it!" Gyrgan exclaimed.

"I do, too!" Trigel added, "What's happening?"

"I never felt something like this before." I said in awe, "It's like I can feel everyone."

"Voltron." Alfor gasped.

An image of a giant mechanical robot appeared in my head; it was a magnificent sight.

I began to feel how my lion moved and shifted, it was not clear to me yet what was happening. Everything was bathed in white and blue intense light, that I had to cover my eyes or risk being blinded. I began to yell at the force gravitating us upward, the yells of my friends filled my airs; they too felt the same thing. We came out of the glowing sphere, and I noticed my position had changed. We were no longer in individual lions but in the mechanical beast I had seen in my vision. Together, we came down from the sky and brought the Red Lion, now an arm, on the purple monster. The hit was so strong it split it in two and created a crater on the ground.

"I can't believe we did it!" Blaytz exclaimed as the dust settled and we stood over the new hole on the ground.

"How did this come about?" Trigel asked astonished.

"Am I a leg?" Gyrgan asked excitedly.

"This power, it's unbelievable." Zarkon added.

I looked around outside, "It appears I'm the chest, and the other lions are connected to mine, fascinating."

"This is Voltron." Alfor said.

Our victory was short lived when the ground began to tremble, and an explosion occurred behind us. We turned around to see another purple monster with long tentacles. It suddenly formed it's top into a humanoid form and shot a laser beam from its face. We expect the impact to hit and send us flying back but it never happened. When we opened our eyes, in front of us was a shield held by the Green Lion.

"A shield!" Trigel exclaimed surprised.

"Well done, Trigel." Zarkon praised.

The shield seemed to be holding back, but the monster began to fire two more beams; I struggled to keep Voltron in place, but it was too strong. The shield broke in half and send us tumbling to the ground. The creature, seeing us down, came at us before I managed to get us back into a standing position. It surrounded us in a swirl of red and purple with electricity coursing through it.

"It's trying to rip into us!" Zarkon grunted.

"We have to get it off!" Blaytz exclaimed.

"Any suggestions?" I asked.

"I know what to do." Alfor responded.

Suddenly the Green and Blue Lions came together and formed a bright light, when it died down, Voltron held a sword in the jaws of the Red Lion. Alfor wasted no time and began to slice at the monster, creating an opening and stabbing it in what seemed to be the creature's chest. Its tendrils stopped swirling around us and it stood before us with luminescent blue gashes on its body and our sword stabbed inside of it. It looked at us as if not believing that it had been defeated before it exploded. We all looked at where to monster once stood amazed at what we had accomplished, but our job was not done yet.

"We must find a way to seal up this rift." Alfor stated once we had landed back into lions. Honerva had come rushing to Zarkon once she saw him exit his lion.

"Seal the rift? Why?" She protested.

"It nearly destroyed Daibazaal!" Alfor retaliated angrily.

"We cannot allow more people to come to harm, or another creature to come through the rift." I added crossing my arms, "We nearly did not make it with one, and you want to test your luck with another."

"Those creatures nearly destroyed Daibazaal, and you found a way to defeat them." She argued.

"Zarkon, surely you agree with me." Alfor said turning to look at him, "It must be closed."

"Perhaps, not." Zarkon answered.

"What?!" I asked outraged, "Are you insane?"

"Look at what we've gained, Glerd." He shot back, "The ships are the most powerful machines ever created. Who knows what else may be discovered if we continue working."

"You would risk your entire planet, the entire solar system, for what?" Alfor asked with his hands clenched, "For more power?"

"You know it's more than that." Zarkon answered calmly.

"We already have Voltron." Alfor said rising his voice, "You have to know when it's enough."

"I'll decide what's enough on my planet!" Zarkon shot back aggressively.

Alfor and I were taken back at his response, he had never raised his voice before. Something about that rift and comet had surely affected him and his wife.

"Zarkon, sometimes you have to know when to stop." I said taking a deep breath, "Otherwise you place those closes to you in danger. You have a whole planet depending on the decisions you take. Don't let that power blind you."

Zarkon closed his eyes and sighed, "I'm sorry, Glerd. The work will continue."

I turned around to leave and grabbed Alfor by the arm pulling him with me, "Come Alfor, it's no use. We can't change their mind."

He stood their looking at Zarkon still shocked, but after a few ticks he finally turned away to go. We headed for our lions and back to our home planets. Everyone who was outside looked up at the sky to see the magnificent White Lion, I landed on the outside platforms of The Castle of Drakie, when I exited, Talise was waiting for me with Taylin in her arms, looking up at the lion in awe. I walked to her and gave her a kiss on her forehead and moved to do the same with my daughter. From that point on everything changed, the other Paladins and I continued to work together, despite our differences, to free planets from does who dared to bring oppression. We had managed to work together like a fine-tuned machine, the legend of Voltron spread throughout the galaxy like space dust to the point where everyone knew who we were.

Years began to pass by in a blur, Taylin was growing faster that I would have liked. Her first element manifested when she was just five years of age, she almost caused a wind twister inside the castle. I sat her down and explained to her what she should be prepared for. I also decided to start her basic training as a warrior, much to Talise's dismay. She refused to let her daughter to start thinking about battle at such a young age, but I insisted that she needed to know how to defend herself and not just depend on her powers for protection. When I got back from my missions as a Paladin of Voltron, I would take her up to train in air combat with her Drako Storm. Together they formed a great team, capable of understanding every order given to them. Their minds were so mended together to the point where they could see through each other's eyes.

Alfor would often visit Negetia, to bring Allura for a visit and help her train as well. The two girls became inseparable, just like sisters. Our wives would stand back and observe their child with teared eyes at how fast they were growing. Sufficed to say, at the age of ten, Taylin was a formidable opponent in sword fighting. She would flip and swing with such skill that sometimes she would win because I would just be looking at her in awe.

"Father, are you alright?" Taylin asked.

I snapped out of my trance and found myself on the floor, "Yes, I'm fine." I stood up quickly and brushed down my tunic.

"You don't seem alright, I just dropped you on the ground and you said nothing." Her small melodic voice said.

I dematerialized my Bayard and placed a hand on her small shoulder, "I was just thinking how proud I am of you."

She gave me a wide smile; a smile that would make any of the castle's subjects hearts stop, "You are the greatest gift anyone has ever given me. The most precious of jewels in my kingdom, that one day will be yours."

She dropped her small sword and came rushing to hug my waist, I patted her head.

"You are the greatest father in the entire universe." She said with excitement.

"And what about me?" Talise said coming closer.

Taylin let go of me and ran to her mother, who opened her arms widely to receive her, "I love you too mother."

Talise laughed as she lifted her up and spun her around; it was the most beautiful sight. These two girls meant the world to me, I could not live without them.

Talise set her down still grinning, "Taylin, go get ready. Allura with be arriving in about a varga."

Taylin jumped up and down in excitement and ran into the castle to get changed from her sparring outfit and into one of her favorite dresses.

"Our daughter is going to make a fine woman someday." Talise said watching her go.

I came to stand next to her and placed an arm over her shoulders brining her closer, "Just like you."

She turned to look at me with a grin and kissed me on the lips before heading inside as well.

I was happy with the work we were doing with Voltron; the universe had never seen so much prosperity and peace. It was the perfect world I had dreamed of, long before Taylin was born.

With the help of Alfor and Honerva's discoveries, we begun a new age of space exploration. Building better ships and establishing a connection between our worlds. I began to think that perhaps Zarkon was right, the discoveries of the rift had brought us to this golden age, even though Alfor was still hesitant of it. After a visit to Daibazaal, Alfor informed me that Honerva had taken things too far. She had used quintessence to expand the life span of her feline. More and more tremors were causing fissures on the planet, which Zarkon explained they had under control, but planetary scans showed otherwise; the planet was becoming unstable.

Honerva has succumbed to her work to the point were only her voice was recognizable, could not Zarkon see what the rift was doing to his beloved? Was he really, ready to sacrifice her, for power? It was madness. But he and his wife were both in denial, they refused to listen to our pleas to shut down the experiment and close the rift. Zarkon even came to the point to propose that we use Voltron to expand the rift to learn even more. His ideals had changed. Zarkon wanted to rule the entire universe and live forever, but we refused. Everything that was once born has to come to an end. Our children would take our place in the universe as we faded away into dust, but that was something Zarkon did not comprehend. Sadly, the head of Voltron had become corrupted by the prolong exposure to the rift's quintessence. It was becoming harder to work together without each conversation escalating into an argument.

One day Zarkon called for a meeting in Altea, he looked worried and defeated as he placed his hands on the table, "Alfor tried to warn me, but I would not listen. Now my wife has fallen ill, and my planet is on the brink of collapse. So, I must beg you, my trusted comrades, to join me on the most dangerous quest. We must close the rift, and I need Voltron to do it."

We looked at each other after Zarkon's speech trying to decide on our next course of action.

"We will help you." Trigel responded for us.

"I only hope it is not too late to heal the rift in my planet…" Zarkon responded, "And our friendship." He turned left and extended a hand to Alfor.

Alfor looked at his hand for a few ticks before extending his arm out to him sealing our agreement to help him. We mobilized quickly to get to Daibazaal and teared off the lab above the rift with Voltron to allow us passage. There in the middle, surrounded by a ring, was the golden rift looking up at us as if it was an eye.

"Honerva told me the only way to close the rift was to use the power of the quintessence." Zarkon explained, "We must make the opening bigger first to gather the power."

"How do we do that?" Gyrgan asked.

"We use the sword." Alfor responded.

"Form sword!" Zarkon ordered and the sword appeared in the Red Lion's jaws. We stabbed it into the rift creating a blinding light, I could feel the power surging through us at the quintessence surrounded us.

"It's too much!" Gyrgan exclaimed.

"Stay focused!" Alfor grunted.

Suddenly I felt like we were falling into the light, it was so blinding that I lost sight of where we were. Everything around us was bathed in white light, it almost felt like heaven.

"What has happened?" I asked disoriented, "Where are we?"

"We entered the rift." Alfor responded.

The alarms suddenly began to blare in our ears and as we looked outside, we could make out a figure moving towards the opening of the rift.

"Zarkon!" I yelled, "What do you think you're doing?!"

In the distance, when my eyes finally adjusted to the light, I could make out not just Zarkon, but another figure in his arms. He had lifted her up close to the rift.

"We have to get them out of here!" Alfor said.

"We must hurry." Blaytz responded, "The creatures have returned!"

As soon as he finished talking, the creatures began to attack us from all sides, "There everywhere!" Trigel exclaimed.

"Fire all lasers!" Alfor ordered.

Using all the quintessence around me, I grabbed ahold of the energy and transferred it to my lion who in return distributed it to the other lions making our lasers more powerful than ever. A side panel on my control panel rouse and Nimawe put an image of my Bayard in my head. I summoned it and placed it into the control panel, twisting it in place; a powerful energy was shot from Voltron's chest finally setting us free from the creatures.

"Trigel, grab them!" Alfor instructed.

Trigel reached out and caught Zarkon and Honerva inside the Green Lion's jaws.

"Gyrgan, Blaytz, fire your thrusters!" I ordered as I began to move us up, "We must leave at once!"

We kept moving through the rift until we finally could see the red sky above us, I landed us at the edge of the opening. We immediately abandoned our lions to check on Zarkon and his wife, but the overexposure to the quintessence had brought terrible consequences, they no longer breathed. We looked upon our fallen comrade in sadness and defeat; Voltron had lost its leader.

We could not mourn the death of our friend as the planet began to shake violently, and fissures began to appear all over the planet.

"It's the rift." I said, "We must get everyone to safety. The planet will explode."

We mobilized and send out a distress signal telling all Galra they had to abandon their planet, it was no longer safe for them. We remaining Paladins, spread out throughout the planet to help speed up the evacuation process. Once everyone had left in the Galra ships, we had to make a decision.

"There is no way to close the rift, how will we prevent it from spreading to other planets?" I asked looking at Daibazaal from afar in space.

"There is only one way," Alfor response gravely, "We must destroy the planet."

"Are you sure there is no other option?" Trigel asked.

"Sadly, no."

I took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, "Then by all means, let us light our darkness hour."

We implanted a powerful bomb made of the same material as the comet and watched how Daibazaal was blown to bits. No one said anything, it was a horrendous sight. No longer did the planet glow its crimson red, but it now stood before us broken and shattered with a dark void in its middle.

"I will hold the funeral for our fallen friend on Altea." Alfor finally spoke up.

"As you wish, Alfor." I responded.

Alfor has sent out a message to his planet and by the time we arrived the preparation were well on their way. It was the saddest day of our lives, it felt like reliving the loss of Nimawe all over again. Zarkon had become a good friend to us, and his loss hurt gravely; he could just simply not be replaced.

Days after his funeral, the unexpected happened. We were on Altea having a discussion of the future of Voltron now that Zarkon was gone, but suddenly the screen of the meeting hall turned on and Zarkon appeared. His eyes glowed purple with hate and his voice had become frightening.

"My fellow Galra…" He spoke, "King Alfor of Altea has destroyed our planet. He must pay for his crimes. Rise up and join your emperor! Revenge will be ours!"

His words marked the beginning of a galactic war, people trembled before the mighty Zarkon, hungry for power. He had become pure evil and obsessed in gaining more quintessence. He came after us trying to take the lions, and to take total control of Voltron. We mobilized preparing for what would come and armed ourselves with anything at our disposal. Unfortunately, peaceful planets that had never seen war were the first ones to fall. The peaceful universe that I had set out to make for my dear Taylin, was not more. Planet after planet, Zarkon crushed beneath his iron fist.

As Taylin grew, I tried to keep her in the dark of what was happening, but there was so much I could do. One day when she was eighteen years of age, she barged into one of our strategic meetings with a look of determination and a frown upon her face.

She walked up to the table and slammed her fists, "Father! You cannot possible keep me away from the fight. My team and I are ready to fight against the Galra, Storm is itching to claw his talons on their ships and make them pay for what they have done to countless planets."

I placed my hands on the table before me and hung my head, "Talise, please accompany our daughter back to the castle."

Talise hesitated looking between us and when she finally decided to follow my orders a strong gust of wind filled the meeting hall knocking a few things off the table.

"I am not going anywhere. I'm sorry Father, but it you will not allow me to join the fight, then I will seek justice on my own." With that she turned around to leave, Talise followed after her.

"I'm having the same issue with Allura." Alfor stated, "She too wants to help in the war effort."

"They are just children." I said, "Children do not belong on the battle field."

"I have seen your daughter fight, I think she can take care of herself." Trigel added, "She is just like you, always wanting to protect does in need. How bad can it be to let her help?"

"Because she does not want to stay on the sidelines and watch from afar," I responded lifting my head up to face her, "She wants to join the infiltration teams and take down Galra bases from the inside. I just can't bring myself to let her."

Talise suddenly came back and her eyes gleamed as if she had been crying, "Perhaps we are not having enough faith in our daughter. She is as skilled and powerful as you, if not better, at controlling the elements. Her capacity of understanding far exceeds her age, would it not be better to have another person like you out there helping?" I was about to speak, but she raised a hand stopping me. "It's not that I don't care for her, on the contrary I am deeply terrified of anything that might happen to her, but we cannot hold her back. It is better to have her under your watch than for her to be out there on her own fighting the Galra."

I had to admit, Talise's words moved me. I knew what Taylin was capable of and as a leader I would not hesitate to send her into the war effort, but my fatherly heart told me otherwise. I sighed and looked deeply into my wife's eyes, "Your right." She gave me a small smile and ran out of the room to tell Taylin the news.

* * *

Hey girls and boys, thanks for reading!

Sorry I took so long but this was a very long chapter to write and I am not done lol.

Hope you guys like it.

Please leave a comment.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

 **Warriors**

 _-Taylin- Ten thousand years ago-_

I exited the meeting hall enraged at my father's passiveness while I was here trying to join the war effort. Could he not see how much I wanted to help? Zarkon needed to be stopped at all cost before our own planets fell to his tyranny. I knew my father meant well and he still had a soft spot for his old friend somewhere in his heart, but Zarkon had lost his way long ago. His hunger for power fueled his vengeance toward King Alfor and his allies. The day he declared war on the Alteans, was the day he declared war on us. The Alteans had been our closes friends for decades, it was only right that we helped their king defend the peace and protect those weaker than us.

As I pondered on all this, my mother's voice brought me back to reality, I turned around to see her running down the hall. "Taylin, where do you think you are going?" She asked as she came to a stop in front of me breathing heavily. She looked at me straight in the eye trying to decipher my true intentions.

"I can't wait for my father to decide for me any longer mother." I said running a hand through my hair, "Do you both really want to see Negetia or Altea fall to Zarkon's tyranny? Do you really want to witness countless deaths of our fellow brothers and sisters?"

"No." She said under her breath.

"I don't ether. Not when I know I could have done something about. We have to begin striking the Galra Empire where it hearts. I know you understand me, you are a warrior too."

Mother took a deep breath and a few tears slipped out of her eyes, "I just don't want to lose you, Taylin."

I placed my hands on her shoulders and gazed deeply into her green eyes, "You won't lose me mother, I can take care of myself. Plus, I have Storm to protect me."

She reached to wipe her tear stained face, "You should really go talk to your father, he was very upset when you left so abruptly."

I sighed and looked down at my feet, "I don't have anything to say to him…For now." I lifted my head to place a kiss on her cheek before leaving her in the hallway to meet with Storm; he waited for me outside.

He rested on the landing platform close to the edge to be able to see what went on below, when he felt my presence, he turned his head to look at me with anticipation.

 _"Did you father give us his consent to join the war?"_ He asked as I neared, _"Hmm, by the look of your face, he didn't."_

 _"Father thinks I'm still too young to join the fight, he won't even allow me to participate in small missions or even come to the strategy meetings."_ I complained.

 _"I had really hoped since the last time he saw us practice our air combat skills, he would have changed his mind."_

I touched his snout and he hummed trying to comfort me, I felt his mental embrace and closed my eyes, _"Come, let's go. We have to meet up with the others to discuss our plans. We are pretty much on our own now."_

Storm lowered his body closer to the floor for me to reach one of his horn and pull me up on his back with just a swift lift of his head. He placed the invisible protecting barrier on my legs and stood up to walk closer to the edge of the platform to take flight. Just before he was about to leap off, I heard my name being called urgently making us both turn around alert. It was my mother who called to me and waved her arms at us to stop. Storm took a few steps back and turned to walk toward her.

"What is it mother?" I asked worriedly.

"Your father. He has agreed for you and your team to join the war effort." She said with a hint of a smile.

I had to think deeply into her word to make sure I had heard right. I blinked a couple of times before answering, "Are you being serious?"

"Taylin, since when do I joke with these types of things?" She scolded placing her arms on her hips.

"Umm, never." I responded under her deep gaze.

"Well then, come back inside. Your father wants to speak to you." She ordered.

"I would like to meet with the others first before meeting with father and maybe bring them to the meeting as well. Tell him I will see him shortly in the meeting hall."

"Alright, but don't be late." She squinted her eyes at me and pointed a finger at us.

 _"Wouldn't dream of it my Queen."_ Stormed answered as he began to move once again toward the edge of the platform. With one big leap he jumped off with his wings tightly against his body. We fell with such an incredible speed that if the invisible barrier on my legs was not there, I would have been hugging Storm's neck to death. Just as we were about to hit the ground, he opened his mighty wings and flapped them once, lifting us a few feet in the air.

 _"You love to do that don't you?"_ I asked with a smirk.

 _"You know me, I love the thrill of heights."_ He answered with happiness in his voice, _"Next time I want to try that on the biggest peak of the Helma mountains."_

 _"Your delusional, we would freeze before we make it that high."_ I responded with a laugh.

 _"No, we wouldn't, because no other Drakie has the Princess of Negetia as their partner."_ Storm said with pride.

 _"As much as I appreciate the praise, we have much to worry about at the moment."_ I said seriously, _"Maybe when this is all over, we can do just that."_

 _"Agreed. We can stick Zarkon into a black hole and be done with it."_ He imagined doing such thing in a comical manner, since he could not fly in space.

 _"I don't think it would be that simple, but if the opportunity presents itself, believe me I would not hesitate to do so."_ I sighed and closed my eyes feeling the warmth of the sun on my face and the wind rush passed us.

Storm landed by the entrance of the castle startling the guards who stood on watch, my four comrades sat by one of the arches wrapped with beautiful purple and pink flowers. Once they saw us, they immediately stood up and ran to meet us. Storm let the force on my legs go and I slid off his back; his scales brushing my fingers tips roughly. If I wasn't a Drakie, surely, they would have cut me.

"My Princess," Varek said with a slight bow of his head, "What has happened?"

The four them looked anxious awaiting my response, "King Fireheart has accepted our offer of help. We will meet with him shortly to discuss what we will be doing to aid our forces." My words brought relief to them; Sapphire let out the breath she was holding.

Over the years, the four of us had become close friends as they exceeded in their battle skills above all others. They began to train alongside me when the royal trainer, Gardar, dimmed them fit to train at a royal guard level. Since that point on, we trained together, learning how to work as a team and each of us implementing our special skills. Gardar trained us to work in the shadows, away from any seeing eyes, making us some of the most lethal soldiers; he called us The Shadow Warriors. The team consisted of Varek from the nature clan, Sapphire of the energy clan, Nisa of the metal clan, Marel from the terra clan, and of course me; which I did not belong to any clan specifically even though my mother came from the water Drakies.

"That is some great news." Sapphire mentioned placing a hand on her hip.

"The time has come my friends to join the battle beside our fellow Drakie and take down the Galra empire." I said with determination and lifting up a fist toward the sky. The others agreed with me and slid out their swords from their backs to point them up towards heaven. Storm lifted his head high and spit out a jet of blue flames with a roar.

"Come, let us hurry back to my father. There is no time to lose." With that they manifested their wings and jumped into the air, I followed them as well carried by my own strength; I felt how Storm took flight behind me. We quickly arrived back at the landing platform and flapped our wings rapidly slowing down are decent before our feet touched the metal surface. Marel came in too fast that I only saw a blur of matted brown wings; he skid forward pressing his heels on the ground before finally coming to a stop.

"You really need to work on your landings, Marel." Nisa stated with a smirk and a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah, you almost hurt my favorite tree last time." Varek teased.

"Poor tree." I added with a laugh.

"Oh, come on my brethren." Marel said annoyed; his wings dropped down a bit.

"If only your landings were as swift as your blows." Sapphire taunted with a wide smirk.

I smiled at their bickering, watching them as we walked toward the entrance of the meeting hall, "Alright, that enough teasing for one day. Get your heads in the game."

They immediately stopped and dematerialized their wings making an opening for me to go in first and following close behind. Storm had shrunk to our level to be able to fit into the hallway, his claws made clanking noises as he walked. Once we entered the room, my father stood with his back to us, his black cape adorned his shoulders and even though he looked older with a bit of white hair, he was still dashing never the less. Upon hearing the soft thud of our footsteps, he turned around to greet us with a nod of his head. I walked to the side of the table located in the middle of the room while the others took point ether next to me or across; Storm took his place behind me like always.

My father inter-winded his hands together before he began to speak, "I'm sure you have been informed why I have asked you to meet me here today." He looked at each and everyone one in the room until he stopped his gaze on me. "My daughter has asked for you and herself to join the war effort toward the Galra. Let me warn you, this is not something that can be taken lightly. This is a very serious matter. The future of the universe rest on our shoulders. I know what you are all capable of, you all have reached warrior class because of your hard work, skill, and dedication and for that I name you four: Marel, Sapphire, Varek, and Nisa, Princess Fireheart's Elite Guard, the future Queen of our race. Taylin will have dominion over this group and she will lead you into missions according to that of my choosing."

"And what would you have us do?" I asked, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

Father tapped the panel on the table and a hologram of a Galra base appeared, the details read it was located in the Incari system. To what I had read of important Galra base locations or key strategy points, this one was not one of them. It did handle some shipments from the Empire, but nothing really important happened their; one of the reasons why the Drakie and Altean armies left it alone, for now.

"You will infiltrate his base to gain any valuable information on the Empire and take it out." My father explained, "The easiest way to do so is by planting an explosive on the main power generator, that will bring down all their systems."

"By doing so, we would render them blind." I added, "They won't be able to locate us."

"Exactly." Father agreed.

"When do we leave?" Nisa asked.

"Before sun down today, you don't have very long, the sun is about to start falling into sleep." He responded.

The five of us looked at each other dumfounded that we would be leaving so soon, honestly, we never thought we would get to this point, the answer had always been a redundant no.

"Can you handle this?" Father asked, breaking us out of our thoughts.

"You can count on us Father, we won't let you down." I said, "We are practically ready, Nisa here always carries some type of explosive on her."

"It's true." She said with a smile, "You never know when you might need to blow something up."

Father looked at her with raised eyebrows and she stood their looking proud of herself.

"Then that settles it, go get your ship ready." He ordered.

The others bowed their heads and began to leave, I was about to follow but my Father grabbed my arm pulling me back.

"Taylin, I know this is not an extremely dangerous mission, but it is still dangerous regardless," He said looking at me straight in the eyes, "I want you to be careful."

I took a step forward to embrace him, placing my cheek on his chest plate like when I was a little girl, "Don't worry about me father, I will return. Also, I am sorry for my outburst earlier."

"And I'm sorry for not having more faith in you." He said and pulled away from our embrace, "Before you go, I have something for you." He took a step back and on his right hand a blue blade materialized. I looked at it amazed; its body was a dark blue but with the light, other shades of the same color were reflected back. Its hilt was a silver color with like vines extending from the end of the body to the pommel. On its top held a beautiful sapphire gem in a shape of a tear drop; it glowed a soft blue in its center.

"It's beautiful Father, how did you come across it?" I asked finally removing my gaze from the weapon.

"I had it made specially for you, it is made from the same ore used to make Voltron." He answered, "Alfor had a small piece of it left and he gave it to me for safe keeping, but I thought it would be a waste to have it sitting in a bottom of a chest instead of putting it to good use. The sword is practically indestructible." He extended the sword to be and nodded with his head for me to take it. I reached out to touch the silver hilt and lifted up seeing how the sword changed to different hues of blue before my eyes.

"It reminds me so much of Storm's scales, in honor of that, I think I will name it Tempest." Just when I finished, the sword glowed a soft white accepting its new identity and I felt how it connected to my energy. I provided it with the lighting element and ripples of electricity began to course over its body.

"The name seems fitting." Father mentioned with smile.

I cut the energy flow and the electricity immediately ceased, "Thank you Father." He looked down at me with a smile and patted my shoulder. I reached over to my back and removed the silver sword from the golden wings that adorned my back, and replaced with the blue blade, rolling my shoulders back to click it in place.

"Take care my dear." He placed a kiss upon my head and let me go. I gave him a smile before exiting the room and joined the others on the landing pad. The ship that would be taking us to the Incari system was already waiting. The others stood up when I boarded; they had changed from their usual attires and into all black suites similar to mine with traces of the color of each of their clans' present.

"Everyone ready?" I asked.

"As ready as we'll ever be." Varek answered.

The doors to the small ship began to close and it began to lift off and out of Negetia's atmosphere. I took a seat close to Storm who laid by the entrance of the pilot's cockpit.

 _"I see you have a new sword."_

 _"It was a gift from my Father, isn't great?"_

 _"Well, it has my approval. It's a fine-looking weapon."_ He said with a hint of happiness at the color.

We sat in silence, there was an atmosphere of nervousness in the air as this would be our first mission on our own. Sapphire fiddled with her fingers and Marel kept double checking his weapons making sure he had not forgotten anything. Varek sat their looking quite calm, him being a nature Drakie gave him a sort of calmness most of the time. And Nisa looked at the floor bored with her head resting on the palm of her hand. A varga went by until the pilot informed us that we were approaching the planet Jumus, I pressed the communicator on my left wrist and a hologram of the planet appeared. It was a rocky grey planet with not much to look at, most of its landscape consisted of canyons and a chain of rocky mountains that slithered all around the planet. I typed in the coordinates of the Galra base and thankfully it was not up on one of the mountain peaks; the radar picked up a few ships coming and going from the facility.

"Fly low to stay off the radar and land near the rocky formation a few clicks south of the base." I ordered the pilot.

"Right away, Princess." He answered and began to move the ship lower to the ground as instructed.

Soon the ship began to descend slowly until it landed with a soft thud, we stood up as the deck doors began to open revealing a gust of wind picking up some of the grey dirt. I made my way outside to examine our surroundings, the sky looked as grey as the rock formations on the ground, not even a ray of sunlight dared to appear.

"Gosh, this planet has no color." Sapphire said, "I wonder if it's always been like this?"

"I looked up the planet before coming here, nothing much lives here except the occasional scavenger who mostly prefer to be in caves high in the mountains." Varek informed, "Though the planet does display high earthquake activity. It will come to a point when all the planet will be mountains because of the quakes pushing the rock up."

"Fascinating." Nisa said with sarcasm.

Just then a we felt the ground begin to shake violently causing us to lose our footing and fall to the ground, Storm clawed his talons on the ground and placed a wing over us, shielding our bodies from the small pebbles that flew our way from a rock formation that had collapsed a few clicks away. The trembling lasted for about ten ticks before it suddenly ceased like it had never occurred.

"Wow, I do not want to be near that when that happens." Marel commented standing up and brushing the dirt of him. Storm slowly retreated his wing still hesitant if another one would occur.

I tapped the comm on my wrist and a map leading to the Galra base appeared, "The bad news is, that we will have to pass a small canyon before coming across the base."

"Me and my big mouth." Marel said under his breath, "Can't we fly over it?"

"No, its best if we hurry through before another quake happens." I said, "If we fly, surely the Galra will spot us, losing the element of surprise." I began to trot toward the entrance of the gorge with the others right behind me, the rocky walls looked enormous, they casted more shade inside making the passage darker. "Let's get moving and be on your guard. We don't know what we'll encounter inside." The others nodded, and I ran inside. The faster we got out of there, the faster we would avoid another quake. Storm stayed at our height to avoid causing too much noise at his full height each time his claws touched the ground.

We kept running, jumping over fallen stone and on occasions having to crawl under too big boulders. No one spoke anything deciding it would be best to keep concentrated on the task ahead. The sound of our fast-moving footsteps echoed inside the gorge, until Marel spoke up, "Uh guys, I can feel another quake coming."

"What?! How do you know?" Sapphire asked urgently.

"I just feel it, I think it has to do something with my connection to the terra element."

I stopped running, "Everyone get close to the right wall." I ordered.

Everyone pushed themselves close to the stone wall and that's when the ground began to shake once again, "Sapphire! Shield up!" I instructed.

She extended her hands up and a magenta colored dome appeared immediately surrounding us and covering us from the falling rocks. Ten ticks passed by and the ground was still shaking. I noticed Marel from the corner of my eye bending down to the ground and touch the floor closing his eyes in the process.

"This quake is coming from very deep inside the planet, hence, why it has lasted longer." He informed, "I can try to stop it, but I don't know if I'll be able to in such a big magnitude."

I bend down as well to touch the ground and analyzed the ground myself, I could feel the ground rumble from so deep down like if the whole planet was quivering, "Perhaps not on your own, I will help you." He extended his right hand to me and I took it; we closed our eyes in concentration. The ground beneath our hands began to glow white as we began to trace back the origin of the quake, to my surprise to planet had a sort of network running all over it. The core of the planet would gain too much energy and it would relies it to the surface in pulses. Marel and I began to shift the earth closes to the exit ways of the energy spikes, closing off the veins leading to the surface and changing their course down and twisting them about until the surface stopped shaking.

"You did it!" Nisa exclaimed relieved.

Marel helped me get back into a standing position before letting go of my hand, "This planet has such a strong magnetic force that its core can't contain it." He said.

"So that's what's causing the quakes." Varek said in thought.

Sapphire lowered her shield and we began to move again, thankfully the exit to the gorge was coming up as we noticed a purple glow at the end, no doubt from the Galra base. We hid behind a fallen boulder looking over the edge to analyze our target. I counted at least six Galra sentries on patrol; we were so close that we could hear their metal feet walking.

 _"What's the plan?"_ Storm asked seeing through my eyes.

I connected everyone's minds together to be able to talk freely without having to worry about the sentries picking up on our voices, _"The sentries are all in pairs of two, I count six."_

 _"Well the once we can see."_ Nisa commented.

Two of the sentries guarded the entrance, the two other pairs patrolled left to right; they crossed each other right in front of the door. _"Nisa and Sapphire, you two are going to run toward the two sentries guarding the entrance and take them out."_ I began to instruct. _"You will do so when the other four have their backs to each other. Varek and Marel you take the sentries on the right, Storm you're with me and we'll take out the sentries on the left."_ They nodded their heads in understanding, _"On my signal."_

The two pairs crossed each other once again and I observed them until they were at least half way from their turning point, _"Now!"_ We rushed out of our hiding spots to attack drawing our swords, Sapphire and Nisa moved like a blur knocking out their targets first. I jumped in the air and cut off the head of the sentry to my left while Storm dug his fangs on the other, cutting it in half. I turned around to see how the others were doing, and to my satisfaction, their sentries laid sparking at their feet. We moved to the entrance to see Sapphire trying to open the door but having no luck.

"Let me try." Nisa said; Sapphire took a step back.

She shifted the metal doors and ripped them off their hinges with her powers. Without a second thought, we moved in following the corridor with the utmost care and scanning for enemies.

 _"This place looks deserted."_ Varek commented.

 _"Well who want to be here with so many earthquakes on a daily basis."_ Marel said, _"It's no wonder are armies have left it alone."_

 _"Varek is right,"_ I added, _"But still, stay on alert. Our task is to destroy this base and that's what we are going to do."_ Storm gave a low growl of agreement.

We came to an intersection, the hallway we were on broke into two different paths.

 _"Which way?"_ Nisa asked peaking over the wall.

I summoned the map of the facility on my wrist and zoomed in in our area, our location was marked by six blue blinking dots, _"Take the right, that will lead us to the base's power core."_

We looked both ways one more time before making a right turn, I constantly looked at my map to make sure we were going in the right direction. I was about to turn another corner when I picked up a noise and immediately took a step back, I held out my arms stopping the others from moving forward; Marel almost tripped at the sudden stop, and I grabbed him by the collar pulling him back. I pointed at my ear and then signaled to the left advancing them of the threat. I peeked over the corner to see two Galra soldiers talking, they had left their posts by the door.

 _"Varek, with me."_ I ordered.

We pressed our backs to the wall using the dimness of the hallway to our advantage, the soldiers were too busy talking to turn around and see us lurking. We moved slowly and stealthy like a feline, being very careful to avoid our swords from scraping the wall. I was able to get right behind one of the soldiers and I pounced on him, hitting him on the back of the head to knock him out; Varek did the same by rushing to the other before he even registered what was happening, both of them laid unconscious on the ground. The others came around and rushed to our side.

"That was easy." Marel stated.

"Don't jinx it." Nisa scolded.

Marel went to open the door to the power core room and we came face to face with a Galra soldier who stood their looking confused at our presence, "Uh, greetings?" Marel said with a sheepish smile.

I moved forward and punched him on the face, taking him out. A few other Galra soldiers who worked on the control panels looked at their fallen comrade still processing what had happened.

"Take them out." I ordered.

The others rushed out from behind me and began to fight, the Galra in front of me turned around to run back to the control panel surely to send out a distress signal, "No, you don't." I growled and rouse a stone pillar right in front of him. He smacked right on it, nocking himself out. My team mates had made short work of the other soldiers, who stood no chance.

Varek moved to one of the control panels to scan for any useful information, I began to type on the panel by the power core which hummed with life. I set a timer for ninety ticks before the core would over load and send the base to kingdom come.

"Anything?" I asked.

He typed away quickly, his eyes scanned the screen, "Nothing much really. This seems to be a dead end, mostly just keeps records of ships coming and going."

"Well, at least they will have one less base." Nisa said with a smirk.

"Let's get a move on. Once I tap this button, the power core will over load in ninety ticks." I said.

We began to run out into the hallway in a hurry toward the exit, on our way there, we encountered a few Galra sentries. Storm jumped ahead and ripped them apart before they could aim. I manifested my wings once my boots touched the stone floor, "Everyone! Take flight, they already know we are here." I flapped my wings and shot into the air as more sentries began to flood the corridors, they shot at us in the sky. We returned fire, I shot an energy orb at four of them sending the flying in different directions.

Suddenly the walls of the base became alive with electricity as the power core reached critical mass, and we flew out of there as the base exploded. It was much easier traveling this planet through the air, lots of new boulders littered the floor of the gorge from the previous quake.

Our small silver ship appeared when we finally made it through the canyon, we landed swiftly and boarded. Once everyone was inside the pilot took off not waiting around to see if any Galra had managed to call for help.

"That went well." Marel commented with a smile.

"Not bad for our first mission out in the field." Sapphire added with a grin.

"Yes, we worked very well together." I said with pride, "I'm proud of you all."

They perked up more at my comment, their faces becoming more enlightened, "Thanks Princess, it means a lot to us." Varek said with a slight bow of his head.

"How many times do I have to tell you, it's just Taylin. We are friends aren't we not?"

"Yes Princess, I mean Taylin."

Everyone laughed, "That's going to take some time to get used to."

Our bond only grew with time, we became inseparable from that point on, my Father would send us on more difficult missions and we would always come up on top. The news of our victories spread like a wild fire throughout the Empire. We would always arrive fast and without warning and when they did locate us, it was already too late for them. The Galra named me Night Stalker, because they would never see me coming. My team and I moved liked shadows ready to pounce on our enemies from around every corner.

My parents allowed me more freedom to move inside the Empire and Father would often entrust battalions to us to guide them into battle or destroy enemy ships that would get too close to our home planets. The tide of the war would often be unbalanced, as we gained a victory, Zarkon would take another planet and push back. It became a game of tug of war between us, mother would always say, "You can't win them all." Which was true to a point.

Two years passed since we joined the war, but I still felt like we could do so much more. Father refused to pilot The White Lion out of our system, afraid that Zarkon would find a way to take her from him, so she was mostly kept safe on Negetia under the watchful eye of the Drako Ky. I pleaded my Father and King Alfor to find a new pilot for the Black Lion, but they refused. They did not know if the link Zarkon had with it could be severed.

As time passed, Zarkon recurred to more ruthless methods of battle; each battle becoming bloodier than the previous one. Many Alteans and Drakie gave their lives in these battles all fighting with a common goal. The Galra forces only seemed to multiple, you would take one down and another stood in line to take its place.

My need to keep fighting only grew alongside me. The anger I felt toward Zarkon fueled me to keep pushing forward.

Zarkon tried many times to ether terminate me or capture me, which he had never done successfully. The others and I would always keep each other safe, watching each other's backs and vowing to never leave anyone behind.

One day my luck ran out, we were taking down a Galra cruiser headed for the planet Layon. It was an easy mission, entering and breaking their power core until the whole ship was rendered useless, but this time something was different. We fought an endless wave of Galra sentries flooding the corridors, slicing and kicking them to the side; It felt like they knew we were coming. Sparks of energy flew from our hands each of us using our powers to create room for maneuver.

We were about to make it back to our ship when the sealing above me caved in cutting me off from the group. The others began to move and shift things on the other side trying to make way for me, but when I was moving a few panels out of my way, the hairs of my neck suddenly stood on end. A frightening presence fell upon me and a strong force pulled me back into the air making me hit the side of the corridor. When I raised my head to face my attacker, there before, me looking down at me with a grin was none other than the King of the Galra. His eyes glowed an intense purple and his face looked menacing as he grinned. His crimson red cape trailed behind him as he moved towards me. I pulled my sword from my back and went in for an attack, but he easily grabbed it with one of his claw looking hands, yanking it out of my grasp. With his other hand, he grabbed my throat lifting me off the ground.

"If it isn't the Princess of The Drakie," He taunted, "Nice of you to stop by."

"My father will come from me and destroy your fleet." I managed to spit out.

"You father is weak. If he and Alfor have not managed to thin my forces, I don't believe he will be able to rescue his pitiful daughter."

His words angered me, and I clawed at his hand trying to break free. Suddenly, the collapsed sealing was blown away and the others came through with their weapons ready. Zarkon through me aside like I was a ragged doll and began to confront them. I took deep breath trying to regain my composure and get my lungs open again. I stood up and just when I was about to send a lightning bolt as his back, a strong purple orb hit me from behind.

A hooded figure with amber color eyes shot another purple sphere at me, I managed to roll away just in time. Sentries and Galra soldiers began to run down the corridor and I looked from them to my friends. Zarkon was making short work of them; I knew what needed to be done.

 _"You need to leave. Now!"_ I ordered.

 _"What?! We are not leaving without you."_ Sapphire exclaimed in her head, _"What will we tell Storm if we leave you behind?! Not happening!"_

I stayed on the ground with my hands and knees resting on the floor breathing heavily at the force of the witch's blow. I looked upon my comrades in sadness, _"If you are to live, you must leave."_ I drew on the last of my energy and send four orbs at their direction pushing them back into the airlock and closing the door on them. The witch once again hit my back with a shock that seemed to take away my energy, she kept it on me until my face reached the ground. I screamed in pain, it felt like being torn apart from the inside out; she laughed at my predicament.

My vision began to blur as tears of pain slid down my face, and the world around me began to spin out of control.

Zarkon had finally got what he wanted, to wipe me from existence.

* * *

Thanks for reading and all support.

Your comments and kind feedback is what keep me going.

I honestly love writing this story.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

 **Fallen**

We all have to die someday, nothing can last forever. The pain and suffering one day will cease and peace will befall you until you join those dearest on the other side. It's a complicated theory, but we all have to believe in some way. Could there really be something else besides this life? Or did eternal darkness await us?

It hard to keep on living, especially in a galaxy at war. There is no way to know the last time you will see a friend, or when you will eat your last meal. It is even more painful when someone you love passes away, its leaves you with a hollow heart and a longing to see one last glimpse of their face.

I thought that this surely would be how my parents and Drako would be feeling at the moment. Mourning over me without a body to cry over, but my conciseness slowly returned brining all the pain back in full force. My body ached; each breath I took was more agonizing than the next. I slowly rolled to my side trying to clear my air pipe, but when I did so, I began to cough blood. The crimson red liquid stained the grey metal floor, I lifted my head up as much as I could and just let the blood run out of my mouth until it was only dripping. The metal taste almost made be heave the little food I had consumed before going on the mission.

I made the attempt to sit up, but after a while I decided it was no use and laid on the floor looking up at the dark ceiling illuminated with a tint of purple. My mind began to race over previous events, how Zarkon had managed to capture me and his witch who bested me. I prayed that my friends were able to get off the ship safely. How could I have been so foolish to come here? Zarkon saw me coming a mile away, he set this trap for me knowing fairly well I would not pass an opportunity to save another planet from his grasp.

I laid their beating myself over, losing track of time. No one had come to visit me in my cell, everything was silent like the calm before the storm. I needed to start thinking of a way to slip away from the Galra King, but in my current state I didn't even think I could make it to my cell door, but I had to try. I took a deep breath trying to push aside my pain and slowly began to rise from the floor groaning along the way. I never thought that something so simple as sitting could be so laborious, but in the end, I managed it. Just when I was basking in my accomplishment, the door to my cell opened. Two hooded figures stood by the door, their faces were completely covered from my view and their hands hidden underneath long sleeves. They stood there watching me without even flinching until I managed to find my voice.

"What do you want?"

They said nothing and entered the room, the door closing behind them. They began to circle around me, observing every angle of my form. I wanted to scream and run out of the detention room and demand to be left alone; their presence brought chills to my back. Their feet made no sound underneath their cloak, I began to wonder if they were hovering over the floor. I felt vulnerable as they kept on walking in circles around me not making a sound. I managed to hug my legs close to my chest trying to make myself smaller.

"You will be processed," They hissed in unison, "Broken, and reformed until your past has been erased. You will learn to serve the one and only Emperor of the galaxy, supreme leader of the Galra."

"I will never bow down to a tyrant." I spit back and made a move to summon my powers by standing up, but one of them grabbed my neck placing a purple glowing collar around it. I tried to reach up to yank it off, but the other cloaked figure placed a similar binding on my wrists, bringing them together. They felt like an iron grip on my skin and became warmer as I struggled trying to get them off. I once again called upon my powers, but nothing happened; not even the familiar tingle on my hands appeared. I called upon every element, pleading for them to help me, but it seemed they had abandoned me. It must had been something to do with the collar and cuffs, they radiated a strange energy.

"There is the room for hope here." They hissed. Purple lighting bolds began to appear from their bony translucent hands causing my body to convulse violently. I bit my lip trying to keep my screams in, but it soon proved too much, and the room was filled with my cries of agony. They kept doing the same thing over and over again, telling me to give in, but I refused. I lost track of how many times they shocked me; I came to the point where I could no longer stay standing and fell to my knees.

"This can end, if you just give in." One of them said.

I looked down at the floor wishing that somehow it would open and swallow me whole to end my suffering, "I can't." I whispered. The other figure who had said nothing in a while stood behind me and suddenly reached out to the adorned wings on my back, pulling at one of them and tearing it off. I gasped at the force but did not scream, my strength was too drained to do so. He noticed I did not react and pulled off the other one, it hit the ground with a load clank. He then proceeded to kick my back and I closed my eyes as my body collided with the floor.

If I was going to survive I needed to keep on fighting and figure out a way to outsmart my bindings.

Every day the same two would come to my cell and torture me until I could not stand anymore, it was almost like a ritual between us three. They would try to persuade me into giving in and I would always refuse. The one who broke the wings of my black fitted suit kept deteriorating it until it had slashes all over. At least one day they had the decency to give me the standard prisoner cloths which consisted of a grey jump suit and a tattered black shirt. During my time here, I could verily eat, nothing seemed to matter to me anymore. It sort of amused me how I would always try to look my best in front of others but now, my hair stuck out at odd angles and my skin was caked with ether dried blood or dirt.

It seemed such a long time since I witness the sun coming out of its sleepiness or the moon watching over the night. I tried to hold on to the happiest memories to keep the fire of hope ignited in my heart, but as time passed, I began to wonder why no one had come for me. Were they even looking for me? Had they forgotten and moved on? Or worse, did they think I was really dead? These questions plagued my mind every day after my tormenting session with the hooded men, but then I came to the conclusion that that's what they wanted me to think. I could not give up hope. There was a lot of people counting on me. I was the only descendent of the King of the Drakie, if I died, my whole race would be left without a leader. There would be no one to continue the Fireheart bloodline.

I thought about these things over and over again off in a corner of my cell with my arms around my legs. I knew that the hooded men would be coming around soon, my internal clock told me so, but this time something was different. They came with the witch accompanied my two Galra soldiers.

"Get up." The witch ordered, but I just looked at her not making any attempt to stand. She then pointed at me and the two soldiers came to me pulling me up from the ground aggressively and began to drag me toward the exit of my cell. I was able to get my feet right on the ground and began to walk as fast as I could to match their pace. We followed the witch through the purple lit corridors until we came upon a big door, when it opened it revealed a throne at the far end; Zarkon sat upon it. I pulled back trying to stop them from moving me any further, but in my weak state, they won and brought me before the menacing eyes of the tyrant. He gazed at me with his bright purple eyes and stood up to walk the few steps down to my level until he towered over me.

"You have proven to be quite a challenge, Princess. I was hoping that by now, you would have given in and joined my army." He said pointing at the soldiers standing on each side of the room. "Imagine what you can do with my resources, you can be unstoppable under my command. I can give you everything your heart desires, but you have refused that. I believe you need an incentive." He motioned to one of the guards behind me, I heard several footsteps coming forth, and from the corner of my eye I saw a flash of blue robes. I immediately lifted my head up, and to my horror my mother stood in between two guards with similar restricting bindings on her wrists and neck. She looked upon me with sadness taking in every aspect of my being. I don't know how I must have looked to her because the corner of her eyes began to water; I had avoided looking at my reflection since the time I arrived.

"You monster! What have you done with my daughter?!" She screamed at Zarkon trying to pull herself free from the soldiers. Her sadness in an instant became anger, she bared her teeth in rage.

"The Emperor does not answer to you." The witch said from behind Zarkon and came around. Her amber eyes glowed with amusement as she wore a wicked smile.

"Now that we have brought our newest guest, you have a choice to make, Princess." Zarkon stated. He moved closer to my mother putting a finger on her chin and lifted her head up for everyone to see, "You can summit, or you can continue to fight me until there is nothing left of you, but know if you refuse, your mother's life will be forfeited."

I gasped looking at her with fear, I could not bring myself to lose her. If the only way to keep her alive was to surrender to Zarkon, then there was no real choice to make; the path was clear. I looked down at the floor defeated, my hair falling on my face obscuring me from the others, "I will do as you say, just don't hurt my mother."

I heard my mother begin to struggle again, "No, Taylin! You can't give up!" She yelled, "Your people need you, Storm needs you, your Father needs you!" She kicked on the soldiers and they loosened their grasp on her. She began to fight to the best of her ability with her hands tide in front of her. She was able to take down half a dozen Galras until Zarkon appeared behind her and she stopped moving, looking at me with wide eyes. She took a few small steps forward and whispered, "I will always love you." And fell to the ground.

So many emotions coursed through me at lighting speed as I saw my mother crumbled on the ground with a deep gash on her back. Her blue robes became stained with blood making them almost look black. My heart began to beat faster and breath heavily, it was like I couldn't comprehend what had happened until I felt how the connection I held with my mother slowly vanish, and that's when it hit me.

I struggled against my Galra oppressors with anger bubbling up inside of me, "YOU MURDER!" I screamed at the top of my lungs over and over again. My words echoed through the throne room and with each scream my chest became hotter with rage. Zarkon stood there not even fazed at my outburst, he wore no expression while his wench of a witch stood there with a grin plastered on her horrible face. I wanted nothing more than to tear that smile off her face and shove Zarkon into the nearest star until he burned to ashes.

The heat of my chest suddenly expanded to the rest of my body, it felt like my skin was on fire. Sweat began to cover my brow and when I glimpsed down at my hands, they glowed with millions of shining gold dots. It looked like space glitter on my skin. Soon my whole body began to glow until the whole room was bathed in light. I no longer knew where I stood or who held me, I had never experienced such thing in my life. Something began to happen with my body as I felt it shift and my appendages move in different directions, but not in a painful way, I actually felt relieved. My feet were planet firmly on the ground but at the same time it felt like flying.

The pain I had been for the past months had ceased and when I opened my eyes, the white glow began to die down. The Galra soldiers looked up at me with their laser guns trembling in their hands, but I did not understand why. I looked in front of me at Zarkon, but to my surprise he no longer hovered over me, it was the other way around. I moved my right hand to touch my face but froze in place when I noticed it was no longer a hand but a clawed paw. My usual cream color skin was gone and replaced by radiant armored gold scales of different sizes all over my body. My fingers now held sharp talons bigger than Storm's and a tail twitched behind me. I unfurled my wings and looked upon them with admiration at their might, but when I moved my gaze down, I saw the lifeless body of my mother on the floor and I remember why I had become this way. I did something that I never would have thought I could ever do, I roared in anger and agony. The force of my roar rattled the throne room, the Galra solider took a few steps back trying to point their guns at me. I twisted around and lashed out with my tail at Zarkon who moved quickly away. My tail instead hit his throne, shattering it to pieces. His witch tried to hit me with a purple bolt, but I quickly opened my jaws and spit flames at her direction, she screamed and vanished from sight only the appear next to her master.

"Sir, we must retreat." She advised, "We don't know what she is capable of in this form."

I leaped at them, but she touched Zarkon's arm and they were gone. I roared and clawed at the ground where they had been. The Galra soldiers and sentries began to fire at me, thankfully my scales were hard enough to reflect the shots. I grabbed the nearest sentry with my jaws and crushed it in half and proceeded to swat away the two soldiers that had brought me here. More and more soldiers began to fill the throne room, but I quickly made short work of them until they coward and ran away to save their lives. I looked to see them run away from me and by the entrance I noticed the two hooded men who had tortured me. They came at me, their cloaks flying behind them, as they approached with their purple glowing hands. I lowered my head to the floor and bared my teeth welcoming them into my grasp. I took one into my talons and threw him across the room hitting the glass that overlooked outside the ship. He hit with so much force that the glass shattered to millions of pieces letting the air out; we had begun to descend on a planet's surface. I moved to the broken screen and jumped out breaking the rest and taking flight. I wasn't about to let Zarkon take over another planet, he had taken too many lives already.

I looked above me to see two other battle cruisers following along and flew toward them. They began to fire upon me, but I moved swiftly away avoiding the impact. As I got closer, I dug my talons on to the ship's hull and created a gash on it under belly. Multiple explosion occurred inside and out until the ship began to descend rapidly toward the ground. I proceed to do the same with the other two remaining cruisers and ripped the ion cannon off the main one before it fired upon me. Zarkon's ship began to change course to exit the planet's atmosphere but I moved in front of them spreading my wings and breaking the glass screens of their control bridge. I took hold of the bow, sinking my claws deeply into the metal, and breathed fired into the control room. The whole room turned into an inferno, Galra began to try to get away from me, some of them did make it out but they ran out of there ignited in my flames.

I heard other ships entering the atmosphere; I growled turning around to attack them, but I stopped when the familiar ship, The Draximum my father's main vessel, appeared. It began to fire at the other cruiser until it exploded to bits. I moved out of the way and flew toward the throne room to reach inside with one of my paws and grab my mother's body. I pushed off into the air as the ship began to break in half and made my way to the Drakie ship who open its hangar doors welcoming me in. As soon as I landed my father came rushing in with my elite guard and Storm right behind him. They looked upon me in awe as I towered over them, including my own Drako.

My father came forth with his hands in the air as if he could reach up to touch my head, "My dear, I am so glad I found you. I looked everywhere for you, but Zarkon always seemed to evade us."

I said nothing.

 _"I was so worried about you."_ Stormsaid relieved, _"Are you alright?"_

They continued to ask questions and I held on tighter to the lifeless person in my right paw. I had blocked out all their voices, until my father called my name and brought me back.

"Your mother came looking for you on her own, neglecting my orders." He stated, "We followed her here, but we cannot locate her position."

There was no easy way to reveal this, I had no words to describe what I was feeling. One of the most important persons in my life had been taken away from me right in front of my eyes; I could not do anything to stop her demise, that is what hurt me the most. Never again would I be able to see her smile or hear the sound of her voice. She was totally gone, her crystal heart had been broken, releasing all her essence into the air. She was now a part of everything in the galaxy and I hoped that one day I could see her again, but not even I with all my power could bring back the dead.

I slowly lowered my enclosed paw to the ground until it was at their level and opened it to reveal my mother's small form. She still looked beautiful even in death, it almost seemed like she slept soundly, but it was a sleep that would last forever.

My father gasped and slowly approached my open paw looking down as his wife devastated, he fell to his knees and took her hand, "Talise…don't leave me."

"What happened?" Sapphire asked in a whisper.

 _"Zarkon."_ Was all I said, and they looked at me in horror. I set my mother on the floor and took a step back, letting my energy go. My scales glowed a bright white as I felt my body shifting back to normal until I rested on my side. Storm moved to my side quickly and examined me for injuries.

 _"Taylin…"_ He said angered, _"What have they done to you?... I will make them pay for every injury on your body."_

The others came to my side, helping me to sit up carefully, "We should get her into a healing pod." Marel stated, "She looks like she's about to pass out."

I looked to my side as the other's voices faded away, the only thing I saw was my father holding my mother in his arms. I could not see his face, but the tears were crystal clear. They rolled off his face to land on my mother's.

My eyes slowly began to close, and for once, I welcome the darkness. It was an escape for all the pain inside of me. Perhaps when I awoke, this would have all been a dream.

* * *

Thanks for reading,

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	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

 **New Beginning**

We walk a fine line between life and death since the day we are born into the universe.

Scratches and bruises can heal, but the pain of losing someone loved will persist. There is no medicine that can make you feel better or hope that a healing pod will magically repair a broken heart, it's just something you must get over on your own. The best remedy for the body and soul is time. It can pass by so fast that sometimes it will go unnoticed until it's too late and your life has gone by in a blink of an eye.

I spent almost two weeks in a healing pod, recuperating from all the stress and hurt my body endured under Zarkon's watch. The bruises on my skin had faded away and my face had returned to normal; no more blood shot eyes or dark circle under them even though I did lose a lot of weight.

Every day I spend in that pod, I had the same dream over and over again. I would stand in beautiful meadow full of every kind of flower that existed on Negetia and a stream ran in the middle of it. The water was crystal clear as it rushed down grazing over fallen rocks and water plants. Day after day, I would stand by the side of the stream while my mother stood on the other. I wanted to reach out to her and tell her how much I loved her, but an invisible force prevented me from running through the shallow stream. She would look at me with a small smile that never reached her eyes and shake her head slowly. She did not speak, but her gaze told me a thousand words. Where she was, I could not join her. I would look down to avoid seeing her as tears slipped out and dropped into the stream. I saw all the sadness and pain reflected back at me by the water and when I finally found courage to look up, my mother had no reflection. Her image slowly disappeared, taken by the wind to never return.

The past few months felt like that dream; like I was finally able to wake up from a horrible nightmare, but the image of my mother on the ground told me otherwise. It was an image that haunted me. Every time I closed my eyes, her face would appear in my head. I would not speak to anyone, if was like all the people around me faded and it was only me in my sorrow. I barricaded myself in my bedroom, huddled in the dark. Storm and the others would come to visit from time to time trying to start conversation with me but as much as I wanted to speak back, nothing escaped my lips. It was until one day my father came to me, he walked in with so much determination and opened my windows wide letting a cool breeze and sunlight into my room. I looked at him confused from underneath my covers and he came to sit by the edge placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Your mother would not have wanted to see you like this." He said softly.

"You don't know that, because she is not here." I said back after so long, my voice sounded cracked from un-use.

"She might not be here, but I know that she would have wanted both of us to stand strong and keep fighting for the cause." He said with a half-smile, "You cannot stay here forever, avoiding contact with everyone who cares about you. You are the Princess of the Drakie and as such you must be out there supporting your people… you're not the only one who mourns the loss of Talise."

I took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling thinking over my father's words. It was true, I had pulled back from those closes to me and I have closed down the link between Storm and me. I never stopped to think how the others were fairing with the situation at hand, and only thought on my own pain.

I slowly sat up looking down at my lap, "Zarkon is going to pay for what he has done." I said with a new-found determination. If only his witch had not been there to aid him and spirit him away, I could have ended this war by removing the head of the Galra.

"Now, now, revenge in never the answer, Taylin."

I looked up to gaze into his eyes, "I know that you still hold hope that Zarkon somehow can be saved, but he is beyond redemption. He has crossed boundaries that one cannot simply turn back from. He is corrupted and evil. I am living proof of that, every day I spend under him was agony. His minions would come to torture me daily, pushing me to give into his command. They treated me worse than dirt under their boots. Zarkon, must be eradicated from existence."

Father looked taken back by my harsh words, it was the first time I had spoken about my capture. "I'm very sorry you have to endure that my dear, and If I could have taken your place, I would have done so without a second thought. I understand that your angry, but instead of letting that anger poison you heart, let that anger fuel your determination to put an end to this war. I know that Zarkon is long gone, and even though I have refused to see it, I always known deep inside of me the truth. I already lost your mother, I don't want to lose you too." He touched my face, rubbing his thumb on my cheek with care. "You are the most precious of gifts your mother ever gave me, and I plan to keep you safe as long as I live."

I sighed and looked into his honey colored eyes, "Don't make promises you can't keep, father."

"I know." He lowered his gaze, "But I must try."

I moved to hug my father, clinging to him as he was my only lifeline. He hugged me back tightly and, in his embrace, I finally let my emotions out. I cried onto his shoulder while he softly cooed in my air and rubbed circles on my back. I felt like a little girl crying over a scraped knee, but the pain was so much stronger this time. A piece of my heart was ripped out and torn to pieces; I thought it would have been much better to have died under the torture of the two druids than to have witnessed my mother's death. It was cruel; no one in the entire galaxy deserved such a fate. My mother was too kind at heart, always putting the needs of other above her own; that's what made her a great queen. My father could have not chosen a better mate to live his life with and share a love so strong.

"We must prepare for the burial ceremony," My father said patting my back as my cries quieted down, "It's time to put your mother to rest."

I reached to wipe the tears from my eyes and pulled back from our embrace and nodded. He gave me a kiss on my forehead before standing up, "I'll be waiting for you by the entrance of the gardens." He turned to leave closing the door behind him with a soft click. I stood up from my bed to choose something to wear, but before I walked into my closet, I noticed the black suit that the royal seamstress had brought to try to make me feel better. It was a noble gesture of her; I picked it up to analyze it, it looked very similar to the one I had before, but this one had small armor plating on the bosom that connected to the wings on its back.

After starting at it for a few ticks, I decided to place it on, not wanting to look any further in my closet. The occasion did not demand elegant dresses, rather something to make me look fearless in the eyes of my people. I needed to be strong for them. I needed to look bold in the eyes of Zarkon, he needed to know that I was still here willing to continue fighting until my last breath. My father's visit had provided me with the courage I lacked.

I looked at myself in the mirror and placed my hair up and finished it off with my small lined tiara that went across my forehead. To honor my mother, I attached a dark blue cape to my shoulders that trailed behind me like a water fall.

I looked at my reflection one more time taking in every aspect of my being; I was never going to be ready for this moment. I looked down at my feet trying to get my emotions in check and exhaled causing my heart rate to slow down. I moved toward the door avoiding the mirror and walked out into the hallway. Subjects were hustling around getting ready for the ceremony, they looked up at me surprised to see me up and about; they bowed their heads as I passed.

I reached the entrance of the castle where my father was standing with his back to me, when he heard the sound of my footsteps he turned around to see me descending the grand stairs. He moved to the bottom of them and held out a hand for me which I took and held on to tightly. Without a word, the guards of the entrance opened the decorative doors of the Castle of Drakie letting the intense light of our sun through. I had to cover my eyes as the light had momentarily blinded me, but my father's grasp on me never faltered.

Outside of the castle, the garden's courtyard was decorated with thousands of blue flowers all with different hues of the color. I looked upon their beauty in amazement. Their sweet fragrance evaded my senses, I could almost taste it. I reached out to touch the petals; its surface felt soft as silk and its anthers glowed a white color.

Someone calling my name broke my concentration on the flower, when I looked up, I saw my dear friend Allura running toward me with her arms opened. Her blue dressed trailed behind her like the pedals of the flower before me. I let go of my father's hand and moved to meet her halfway, she embraced me the moment we stood face to face. I hugged her back with the same intensity burying my face in her long white locks; in that moment I realized how much I missed her. She was the closes person I had to a sister, she was part of my family. Anyone who stated that brothers or sisters only came from blood were wrong, Allura was my sister and she had been there for me since the day we first met as children. The bond between us only grew as time passed, but she was not the only one I held such a strong connection to; I felt guilty.

She pulled back to be able to look at me straight into my eyes, "I want you to know that I am here for you. Whatever you need, I will make it so. Even if it's just a shoulder to cry on."

I gave her a sad smile, "Thank you Allura, your support means a lot to me."

Her clear blue eyes became filled with tears, "You should have never been but in such a situation. I'm so sorry for your lose." A tear slid from the corner of her right eye, making a trail down her face. She wiped her face and took a step back as the ground began to shake a bit; a shade was casted upon us, I looked behind me and was met with dark blue scales.

 _"Partner of my heart and soul, how I have missed your presence…"_ Storm spoke brining his head down to my level.

I touched his snout and he hummed closing his eyes, _"I'm sorry Storm. I have pushed you away, when I really needed you by my side. I'm sorry…"_

 _"Do not apologize."_ He responded reopening his eyes, _"You we're grieving, I understand that."_

I moved to hug his neck and connected us once again, mending us together until our minds became one. He flooded me with so much love and strength letting me know he was there for me no matter what.

 _"We are stronger together…"_ He whispered.

I was so overwhelmed by his feelings, I did not know what to say, so I just lifted my head and kissed the side of his head.

"I'm sorry to interrupt my lady," One of the castle's servants said, I turned to look at her and she bowed her head in reverence, "The ceremony will start soon, your father sent me to get you."

I nodded my head and began to walk toward the main walk way of the castle's garden, my father extended his arm to me and I linked us together. We walked to the platform that was set up at the end of the decorative path, Drakie and Drakos from every tribe stood on each side holding light blue flowers in their hands. I looked at as we passed by, they all held a hint of sorrow on their features, and they bowed their head as we commenced our stroll. Storm walked behind us along with Allura, King Alfor with his wife, and my elite guard.

The walk seemed internal, all eyes were on us. It seemed liked all Negetia was watching our every move, holding their breath. I was relieved when my foot touched the first step of the platform and we slowly ascended until we stood on the middle of it and turned to face the multitude. My father let our arms fall to move forward and address our people; Allura took his place, she placed a hand on my shoulder in comfort.

"We are gathered here today," My father began, "To say farewell to one of the dearest persons, my beloved Talise, Queen of the Drakie. She was an exceptional woman, full of strength, compassion, and courage. Talise was a great wife, leader, mother, but above all she was a great queen. She valued the lives of her people and she fought for our race until her very last breath. We will follow the example she left and continue fighting for freedom. Let her be remembered for all eternity as she joins our ancestors in the sky."

My father finished his speech and trumpets began to sound all around us, the banner of the royal seal flew in each of the polls of the walk way and the castle was illuminated in royal blue light. At the beginning of the path, four royal soldiers carried my mother inside a casket decorated with engravings of flowers in gold. As they passed by, the people would bow their bodies and set their flowers on the ground.

I felt heartbroken knowing that my mother was inside that box; I wanted to see her coming down that path waving her hand at the people with the widest of smiles. I felt a pit in my stomach knowing that would never happen; I took a deep breath trying to keep my tears at bay.

I heard someone scuffle a cry to my left, when I looked, it was Allura's mother who held her hand over her mouth with tears rolling down her face, she held onto King Alfor's arm for support. I had to look away before I joined her.

The royal guards finally made it to the foot of the platform and set down the casket with care. They bowed their heads and two Drakie from the nature tribe came forth. They united hands and extended their free ones towards the sky. A green glowing circle began to appear around the box until it engulfed it in light. Everyone looked upon the deed in awe when a green ray of light shot toward the sky igniting millions of lanterns that I had not seen before. They glowed in the light of the setting sun with each color of an elemental tribe. It looked like the stars had come down from the heavens.

The green tunnel of light finally began to die down and before us stood a majestic tree, its trunk had covered my mother's casket making her one with all nature. Blue orbs began to appear on its branches and when the light disappeared, it revealed beautiful crystal flowers, when the rays of the sun hit them, they glittered and casted rainbows all around the garden. My jaw dropped as I looked up at them, I had never seen such a thing in my life.

"Talise, you are one now with Negetia." My father's voice boomed, he walked down the steps and placed his hand on the trunk of the tree. I saw his lips continue to move like he was whispering to it, but I was too far away to comprehend what he was saying. When he was finished, for a moment he placed his forehead to the tree and pulled back to stand in front of it.

"My dear people, this is sadly a time of war." His voiced echoed in the garden. "Facing loses is inevitable but let's not let that cloud our judgment. We cannot allow does who have given their life for our cause to be in vain. Many wise Drakie have raised up to lead others right beside me. You have all shown your strength and courage even in the heat of battle. For that reason, my daughter Taylin, will be promoted to Queen as of this moment."

My breath caught in my throat and I heard Allura gasp beside me. I looked around me to make sure I had heard right, sure enough, all attention was on me.

"Taylin has endured countless things for our race, it is only right that she should take her mother's place as the legitimate Queen of the Drakie. It was a promise I made to Talise. She requested that if anything were to happen to her, her daughter would be put in her place."

Father turned around to look at me and extended a hand asking for me to come. I looked at him dumfounded with my legs refusing to move as my heart began to beat rapidly as if it would take flight. Allura whispered my name seeing as I wasn't moving, and after a few ticks I slowly began my way down to take my father's hand. He gazed into my eyes with a slight smile and reached for my head to take ahold of my tiara and removed it carefully from its place. A servant hurried to his side to take it and placed it inside a wooden box, she then reached inside and pulled out my mother's crown. The different gold swirls made up the crown with small blue sapphires decorating throughout its surface. It gleamed in the light of the setting sun as she presented it to my father with a bow of her head. He took it with both his hands, holding the delicate piece in between his thumbs and pointer fingers. He placed the crown between us; we both looked down at it.

"I don't think I'm ready." I said still gazing down.

"One is never truly ready." He responded running his fingers over the surface of the crown, "Remember that a leader is not born but forged in time. You were born with a purpose." He raised my head with a finger and brought the crown up to eye level, "This is your purpose." With that said, he placed the crown upon my forehead; It felt like so much responsibility had befallen on my shoulders in the course of a few days.

Father turned to look at the crowed, "People of Negetia, I present to you your new queen, Taylin Fireheart."

I looked up to face my people and when I had turned my full profile to them, they began to lower their bodies to the floor until one of their knees touched the floor. They placed a hand over their hearts and bowed their heads signaling their acceptance of my crowning. Drakos that stood at the edges of the garden began to bend their long necks to the floor and lift one of their paws in the air in reverence. They held that pose for a few ticks until they suddenly lifted their heads toward the sky and roared. The ground shook at the sound of their might, I was sure the whole planet had heard them; Storm joined in as well roaring in triumph behind me. I turned to look as he sent a jet of orange flames into the sky. My elite guard removed their swords from their backs and placed the tips on the floor before they too kneeled. Allura nodded her head with a smile and placed a hand over her heart.

In that moment, I pushed aside my differences and placed my feet firmly of the ground. There were many lives depending on me; Negetia was placed in the palm of my hand and the universe at my fingertips.

* * *

Hey people, sorry about the wait but I have been on vacation.

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and remember to leave a like or a comment.

Also, since the story is moving on to a different stage I have updated the story cover.

What do you guys think?

Next chapter we will be back into present time.

Thanks to everyone for all the support!


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

 **Code of Honor**

 _Present Time_

I've been flooded with memories of my past. It had not bothered me before, but now they came back with full intensity. Ever since our last battle with Zarkon, my mind has been taking me down memory lane. Losing Shiro had triggered some of the most despicable of them, bringing the faces of those passed away in my dreams. I was afraid I would have to add him to the list.

It did not help ether, when I woke after our mission on the Galra base, I went looking for the others in the control room but when I neared, I overheard Coran telling the story of the Paladins of old. Thankfully, he had not gotten too deep into my own past; I was not ready to talk about the atrocities I lived through so long ago. They seemed like they had happened yesterday, but there was a ten-thousand-year gap to prove otherwise. I should have died long ago; I did not belong in this era. My path should have followed the natural order of life, when my father and mother would have been too old to rule, and the throne passed down to me peacefully. To be honest, it sometimes feels like I'm living in some other reality and someday I will wake up and be once again back on my home planet, but none of that was true. I had become queen at such a young age and had taken my father's place as the Paladin of the White Lion.

Becoming a Paladin had brought so many new responsibilities; a lot of people depended of Voltron to come free them from the Galra rule. We had begun to receive countless calls for help, and as much as we wanted to rush to their aid, we had to take it one step at a time; only Keith refused to see that. He had become more engaged in the missions of The Blade of Marmora and would often disappear without saying a thing to anyone. I understood he wanted to help bring down the Empire, but it was impossible to undo a reign that had been established for decades in a course of few days.

The Black Lion would often be missing, just like now, as we escorted some refugees out of the Fimm System that had lost power. I held on to one of the ships with White's front paws being careful not to exert too much pressure on its hull. Suddenly, the Black Lion appeared and grabbed ahold of the last ship just as I was about to make a plan to pull the other one along.

"Well, look who decided to show up." Pidge commented sarcastically.

"You finally made it Keith." I added a bit annoyed, "Where have you been?"

"Yeah, are you even taking this seriously?" Lance asked.

"Sorry I'm late." Keith apologized.

"Give us a warning next time you're going to leave." I said turning on the visual comm.

His face popped on my screen, he had his eyebrows creased, "I already apologized, what more do you want?" He shot back angrily.

I was taken back by his outburst. Yes, I was irritated that he had not come along side us, but I never verbally attacked him. Keith's expression changed to worry and immediately tried to apologize, but I shut down the comm before he could finish his sentence. I moved the handles of lion shooting forwards and leaving him behind. I passed the others and broke the Olkari atmosphere first. With the utmost care, I placed the ship on the ground with a soft clank and landed my lion as the others began to set the other refugee ships down. I exited my lion and went to aid the people that began to exit the ships.

"We have injured." I informed as I saw a woman holding her arm and cringe with pain, "Everyone, check the people of the ship you brought in, if they need to be healed, bring them to me."

"On it." Allura responded over the comm.

I walked to the woman holding her arm, "Please ma'am, let me inspect you arm." I extended my hand out to her and she looked down at it frozen. "I just want to make is feel better, I won't hurt you. I promise."

She looked up to gaze into my eyes and gave me a small smile before placing her injure arm in my waiting hand slowly.

"What happened?"

"We were in such a rush to get on the ship that I hit my arm on the way in." She explained with a heavy accent.

I began to lightly touch the surface of her arm until halfway she hissed in pain. I gust of wind suddenly blew through the landing platform and someone flapped their wings rapidly until a load thud brought them to a stop; I did not have to look behind me to know who had arrived. The woman in front of me glanced with horror and pulled at her arm trying to get away. I step forward and placed my other hand on her shoulder to calm her down, "Don't be afraid, this is Storm, my Drakie. He is just here to help." She still looked up at him with worry but stopped pulling her arm away from me.

 _"Stop being so bold with your entrances."_ I said with a hint of amusement.

 _"I'm a building size, blue scale, fire breathing creature, I don't see how."_ He chuckled, _"But I'll make myself a bit smaller."_

When I turned my head, he was at my eye level; he came forth until his head almost touched my forehead; I nodded in approval. I returned my gaze to the woman, "This might sting a little, but it will be over soon." I closed my eyes and concentrated my energy in healing her broken arm, Storm mending his strength with mine. I released the energy to the palm of my hands, I could feel how they became hotter with the transfer of energy. The bone slowly mended back into its place and when I heard a soft click, I opened my eyes. The woman looked down at her arm wide eyed, "Try to move it." I suggested.

She began to flex her hand inward trying to find any source of pain, but the smile that slowly grew on her features told me she was going to be fine.

"Thank you so much!" She exclaimed in happiness.

I gave her a wide smile, "Now go get yourself something to eat from the Olkari close to the edge of the platform."

She nodded her head still grinning and began to make her way to the station set up for the refugees.

 _"It feels nice to put my powers to good use."_ Storm commented content with himself; I patted his snout in comprehension.

"Anyone else have injured?" I asked over the comm.

"Everyone seems to be doing okay." Pidge responded.

I looked behind me to see Shiro overlooking the platform with his arms crossed, he nodded his head when he noticed my gaze. The Black Lion sat behind him and Keith approached him breaking his gaze away from me. I huffed and headed to the castle with Storm in tow. I changed into my regular space outfit and made my way to the control room where Coran greeted me warmly. The other Paladins began to arrive one by one. Shiro stood on the main platform while we circled around him, Coran took point in front of us.

"Okay, everybody," Coran said waving his hands in the air to gain our attention, "Today, we'll be heading to Reiphod, a planet recently liberated from Galra forces."

"This is embarrassing." Keith commented, "We're basically the grand marshal of a parade."

We had had begun to give a bit of a show with our lions to lift people's spirits and persuade them to join our coalition. Coran had been in charge of these so-called shows and arranged our appearance over the galaxy.

"Not a parade." Coran corrected, "A show of arms!" He flexed his left arm.

"Whatever it is," Pidge interrupted, "This is the second one of these we've done just this week."

"I know it's not exactly battling the Galra," Allura said, "But believe it or not, this helps us boost morale and strengthen alliances."

"Allura has a point," I said next to her, "The people need to see how powerful Voltron really is in order to believe. Not everyone is capable of placing their trust in something they never witnessed before."

"Right, right, strongholds, blah-dy, blah-dy, blah." Lance said crossing his arms, "Now, I say we go over our lion choreography one more time. I don't want a repeat of what happened last time, Hunk." He squinted his eyes at him with a pout.

"I thought my lion had more room." Hunk retorted holding his arm; Lance glared back with his hands on his waist.

Lance was about to continue scolding Hunk when Kolivan appeared on the main screen, "Shiro, my apologies for interrupting, but this is an urgent matter. A Galra supply ship has been spotted passing through Quadrant Omega-Raylar-Six." His image disappeared and replaced with a map of the quadrant.

"What's it doing so far from the normal supply routes?" Shiro asked.

We can't be certain but taken together with the fact that Lotor hasn't been seen in quite some time and the emergence of this new form of quintessence, we feel compelled to investigate." Kolivan answered, "Normally, we would wait for better intel, but I believe we should act on this now."

"Perhaps we can intercept them halfway and investigate why they had strayed so far off course." I suggested.

"An infiltration mission makes more sense." Kolivan stated; he loved to contrary me, "We can plant a tracker and see just how far the supply route extends. With all the Galra activity as of late, my agents are spread thin."

"Not anymore." Keith spoke up, "Count me in."

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Hey, what about our performance?" Lance whined, "We can't razzle-dazzle the crowd with just five lions."

"This mission is more important than a show of arms." Keith shot back angrily, "Shiro?" He glanced my way as well with a pleading look asking for my support even though he did not voice my name.

"How long will it take?" Shiro asked.

"Not long, but we must act fast." Kolivan answered, "Or we risk the ship jumping to hyperspace."

I crossed my arms looking down at my feet thinking over Kolivan's words. The Blade of Marmora was right to be suspicious, and it could prove useful to know where it was headed. I looked up at Shiro who looked deep in thought with his hand grazing the tip of his chin. I sighed, "If you must, then go. Just be careful out there, remember that you are a vital part of Voltron. Meet us at Reiphod as soon as you can."

Keith nodded his head and mouth a silent thank you before exiting the control room. I watched him go, a bit of worry laced my heart as the doors closed behind him. Any infiltration mission was dangerous, I knew first hand.

All five lions stood behind the stage ready to take flight at Coran's signal; the castle to our backs. The people could be heard cheering and screaming from the bleachers. They chanted the name Voltron over and over begging to finally see it. Shiro stood by Coran, and much to Storm's discomfort, he too was on stage. Coran has coaxed him into appearing to the crowd, the hundreds of flashing lights hit his scales reflecting back sparkling rainbows. He took point behind Shiro as if somehow, he could hide his form.

"Citizens of Reiphod," Coran said on microphone, "On this day, we honor you for your testament to the fighting spirit of your people. You've put aside your differences and united to dispel the oppressive Galra regime, brining freedom to all!" The people cheered even louder as he continued, "We thank you for joining the coalition and continuing the fight against the Galra that began with the reemergence of the six lions of Voltron!"

"That's are cue!" I said; I pushed my handles making White jump in the air. We flew over the stage and above the crowed. I pressed a button on my screen and a trail of white glittering dust began to fall out of White's wings propulsers. We moved gracefully through the sky as we flew up outlining a path with each of the colors of our lions. The Red, Yellow, Blue and Green lions began to crisscross in the middle and I flew in between their trails igniting the sky with my white dust.

"Right, uh… five lions." Coran corrected with a nervous chuckle.

"I thought Keith said he was gonna be here." Lance complained, "He's going to ruin our show!"

"Lance, this isn't just about putting on a good show." Allura retorted, "It's about uniting people and bringing them to the coalition to help in the fight against Zarkon."

Lance sighed, "Fine. I don't even know why I try."

"Keith's mission is also important, Lance." I said. "Look at the bright side, you don't have Keith here to steal you spot light." I added in an attempt to cheer him up.

We flew down and began to fire lasers from our tails on key points of the arena causing confetti to fall over the crowd. The five of us created a circle with our colorful trails that almost looked like a twister.

"By joining the Voltron Alliance, you are joining up with the Defenders of the Universe, who will do whatever it takes to spread peace and freedom to every galaxy." Coran explained.

We flew belly up and backflipped above the crowed and once again flew up into the sky; they broke out in a hysteria of a cheer when we nose-dived down.

"They're loving us!" Lance exclaimed, "Razzle-dazzle!"

"And just as Voltron has shown what can be done when six individuals combine their powers together, so, too, can we combine our powers with those on Planet Reiphod and grow even stronger. For it is the individual willing to take up arms that strengthens the whole. And with that strength, we will be unstoppable!" Coran yelled into the microphone.

We hovered above the crowed as the people's cheering died down all looking directly at Coran with his fist in the air.

"Oh-uh, I think he forgot we can't form Voltron." I said facepalming.

 _"This just got really awkward."_ Storm commented peaking over Shiro's shoulder.

Coran nervously covered the microphone and muttered to himself before he found to courage again to speak, "Uh, well when he's together, he's like a big man. Like this" He lifted his hand as far as he could on tip of his toes, "But you have to imagine it with a sword and a big laser cannon." Coran began to imitate Voltron with a sword and making laser noises. "Lookout, Zarkon! I'm Voltron, and I'm the biggest, baddest robot around! No, he doesn't actually talk like that, but I-that's what I imagine him saying if he did." He went on.

I was so glad I was inside the lion and not on that stage with millions of eyes observing, "You picked a great moment to leave, Keith." I groaned.

"Somebody do something!" Lance hissed in embarrassment.

I placed both my hands back on my lion's handles and fed her with the frost element and shot a beam from her jaws into the sky. Thousands of flurries began to fall upon the crowed, they reached up to try and take them into their hands with smiles of wonder on their faces.

"Ummm, thanks for joining us tonight people of Reiphod." Coran squeaked and ran off the stage.

We flew back into the castle while the people were distracted.

I strolled through the hallways of the castle alone trying to clear my head, but the more I walked, the more memories flooded my mind. Since my awakening on planet Arius, I have not had the time to think over past events. The situation called to jump into action right away or be eliminated by Zarkon. It seemed that where ever I went, he followed; even though he was dead. There was not an exact confirmation of his demise, but deep inside me I hoped that he was truly gone. He has caused so much pain and suffering to so many people. I could not understand how someone, who used to care for others, just simply turned their back on them. It was a thought that occurred to me time and time again, but I never found the answer to.

As I came around a corner, the hissing sound of doors opening startled me, but I relaxed once I noticed Keith walking in with his Marmoran attire. He had his hood on with his raven black hair peeking out of it and a grim expression. I crossed my arms and hid all emotion from my features; Keith had failed us once again and because of him, the coalition show of arms had been a total embarrassment. On the other hand, I did not know if I could stay mad at him after what I heard happened on his mission; he lost a comrade.

He sighed before speaking, "Taylin, I know you're mad at me, but I' not in the mood for lectures."

I uncrossed my arms and took a step forward, "I'm not going to lecture you Keith, I just wanted to say I'm sorry things didn't go as planned on your mission."

Keith took a moment before responding, "Thanks."

"I understand the work you've been doing with the Marmorans is important to the cause. We could have not found better allies in this fight, they have proven crucial to our victories over the Empire." I continued, Keith looked down and removed his hood. "And even though reports of new quintessence supply lines are unsettling, I cannot stress enough the importance of-"

"I said I didn't want a lecture." Keith interrupted.

I looked down at the floor avoiding his gaze, "The importance of bringing together does who have been oppressed by the Galra for decades is a vital part in taking down the Empire. We must be able to ignite that hope once again in their hearts under one common emblem, Voltron. It has become so much more than a mare weapon. It has become a symbol of hope, unity, and freedom for the oppressed. Its name is whispered among does who still live under the Galra, and its name chanted with pride in liberty." I finally looked up to face him, "I guess what I'm trying to contend is, the Marmorans can continue their mission without you, Voltron however, cannot." I placed my right hand on the upper part of my left arm and took another step forward until we stood face to face. "We need you Keith, without you, there is no Voltron." With that said, I placed a hand on his shoulder and continued on my stroll through the castle.

Countless refugees continued to arrive on planet Olkarion after we made it our home base, people felt safe in the place where Voltron resided, if only they knew that half the time we could not form it. There would be times where I felt someone's gaze on me and when I turned around, I would catch a glimpse of a hooded figure before they disappeared into the crowd.

I often found myself tired after healing several injuries from the incoming population. It seemed that are work was cut out for us; Stormed shadowed me in all my tasks, aiding me when needed. He had taken more precautions when showing himself to the refugees as not to scare them. Word of his existence spread throughout the quadrant and stories once told about me, had resurfaces. People would often point at me with wide eyes or smile when they noticed my presence. One of my favorite parts was interacting with the children and watching how their fascinating gazes lit up with everything new around them.

We had finished accommodating the new civilians onto the planet when we were called by Coran back into the Castle's control room, something urgent was happening.

"What's going on?" Allura asked running to the control panel.

"We received a distress signal." Coran informed, "One of our convoys has been ambushed by a squadron of Galra cruisers."

"Does ships are carrying medical supplies, we cannot allow harm to come to them." I said alarmed.

"We must leave immediately." Allura advised, "Voltron can keep those cruisers occupied long enough for the supply ships to make their escape."

"Actually, Voltron can't." Pidge stated, "Keith is gone."

"They're probably on a mission. I knew this would happen sooner or later." Shiro said, "You'll have to go without Keith. The convoy need you immediately. I'll send him to help as soon as I find him."

When he finished, we hurriedly headed to our stations that would lower us down to our lions. I step on my platform and pressed a button on my control panel that materialized before me.

"Be careful." Shiro said with worry just as I was about to lower myself down.

"Always am." I responded and blew him a kiss.

I grabbed on to my zip line and got on my speeder that connected to White's chest, soon I was sitting in my cockpit that lit up white at my touch. We launched in unison and Coran provided to coordinates to our medical supply ships. Three Galra cruiser showed up on the radar; they were beginning to surround them. I took point up front while the other lions followed behind me. We flew through space at an incredible speed, soon we saw our ships before us, they were being fired on; one of them was currently inside a tractor beam.

"We have to get that ship away from the tractor beam." I said.

"I'll try to ram it out." Hunk stated, "Cover me!" The Yellow Lion shot forward but was blocked by several Galra fighter in his path. Hunk began to take evasive maneuvers, but there was just too many, "Uh… Never mind! There's too many! I can't ram that many!"

"Hunk, fall back into formation." I ordered, "The rest of you, try to take down as many fighters as you can, we need to clear a path."

We began to shoot down fighters left and right, but suddenly five more cruisers jumped out of hyperspace almost making me crash into one of them; I activated my reverse boosters sending me flying back.

"Someone must've called for backup!" Hunk exclaimed; more fighters began to deploy.

I saw three leaving the pack and coming for me, their laser fire almost grazed me, but I managed to avoid their incoming shots. I kept on leading them on until, without warning, I flew upward and shot a powerful water tunnel from White's jaws making them break into a million pieces, but just as I took does down others quickly took their place.

"They're everywhere!" Lance yelled.

"There are more fighters than we've ever seen!" Pidge exclaimed.

I looked at my radar, it was filled with hundreds of blinking red dots flying in different directions, "We'll never make it in just our lions, we are going to need Voltron!" I hissed as one managed to get a shot at me. I spiraled out of control and collided with two other causing an explosion, I created a protective dome around White and I to avoid taking more damage; the lights inside my cockpit began to flash red and the alarms blared in my ears.

"Allura, I need your help!" Lance said, "I got two on my tail!"

"I'm sorry, I can't get to you!" She answered, "They're all over me!"

I managed to stabilize my lion and shot a beam at the two fighters following Lance, "I got them!"

Lance huffed, "Thanks, but here come more."

"They are surrounding the ships!" Allura called out.

"There's no way we can beat all these fighters with only five lions!" Hunk said urgently.

"You don't have to!" Shiro said over the comm surprising us; we all exclaimed his name in unison.

"No way!" Hunk cheered.

"I can't believe it! Shiro you're flying the Black Lion again! Thank the ancients!" I exclaimed happily.

Shiro shot a beam taking down a few Galra fighters chasing the Yellow Lion.

"Converge on me." Shiro ordered, "It's time to form Voltron!"

I began to follow the Black Lion's tail as my lion began to shift and connect to it, the other lions took their rightful places and Voltron was finally formed. I flew Voltron forward and Hunk summoned the shoulder cannon destroying the majority of the ships. The blackness of spaced lit up with thousands of explosions. We flew close to the rebel ships, "Rebel craft you're safe." Shiro stated, "We'll escort you the rest of the way to Olkarion."

The flight was smooth from that point on, and before we knew it, we had touched down on the surface of Olkarion back in our lions. We quickly made our way as they disembarked and tended to the wounded. The other Paladins brought the direst of need of medical attention to me while the rest were tended to by Olkari healers. Shiro stood beside me through the whole process, watching attentively as I worked. After the fifth person, I was starting to feel a bit dizzy; Shiro placed a hand on the small of my back and grabbed my hand with the other.

"Here, take some of my strength."

"Storm should be back any minute, he can provide me with the energy I need." I gazed up at his eyes, the setting sun reflected on them.

"Just do it, Taylin. I don't want you to collapse." Shiro had the 'don't argue with me' look causing me to give in.

"Fine." I closed my eyes and began to draw energy from him, his energy tingled through our touching hands, my body was enveloped in a sweet warmth. It was like having our bodies very close together, but in reality, we just stood side by side. I stopped taking his strength when my cheeks became flushed and pulled back from him.

"You alright?" I asked.

"Yeah… I'm fine, it just felt a bit weird."

"Energy transfer is different for every being, Storm and I are used to sharing our strength with each other, it comes easy to us."

"Well you look better." He touched my face with a tip of a finger, "You look like your blushing."

I chuckled, "When is the last time you, Takashi Shirogane, made me blush?"

"Is that a challenge?" He asked with a small grin, "Don't temp me."

"Oh, ha, ha." I mocked with a smile.

He took a few steps and placed a kiss to my hair before placing an arm over my shoulders brining me close. I had to admit, it was getting kind of hot in my Paladin armor, I hoped he did not notice.

Back in the control room, we stood around discussing our previous mission and voicing our content with having Shiro back as the head of Voltron. Even after the talk I had with Keith, he still failed to show up once again, does revel ships could have been destroyed all because we could not form Voltron. There was an aura of disappointment regardless of our victory.

The doors to control room suddenly opened and in walked Keith with a sorrowful look, we turned to look at him with angered stares and crossed arms.

"Guys I…" He trailed off once he noticed the stares we were giving him, "I heard what happened. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help."

Allura was the first to speak up, "You keep saying you're sorry, but your actions say otherwise. Do you realize that your absence put the team in jeopardy?"

"And not just the team." Lance added, "The refugees as well."

"Many people's lives were at stake because you failed to show up." I voiced with a frown, "We nearly did not save the refugee ships from danger because we were too busy saving our lives. A couple of the people on board resulted injured in the attack."

"Matter of fact, the entire quadrant was in danger." Pidge said.

Keith looked down, his purple eyes reflected sadness, "This is not the way I wanted this to happen, but, if there's a bright side to any of this, it's that my absence allowed Shiro to reestablish his bond with the Black Lion. He can finally be the leader I was unable to be. I'm not meant to pilot the Black Lion." Shiro's expression grew solemn at his words.

As always, I could not stay mad at Keith for long; there was sincerity in his words. He just wanted what was best for the team, we could not force him to do something he thought was not meant for him.

"Is that why you've been pulling away from us?" Allura asked.

Keith sighed, "Yeah. I suppose that's part of it."

"Part of it?" Hunk asked crossing his arms, "What's the other part?"

"The Blades have been making headway tracking the source of this new quintessence. They've been able to piece together a large network of hidden supply lines that have been secretly transporting it for who knows how long." Keith explained, "And there's good reason to believe it could lead us directly to Lotor. A mission is being planned to infiltrate the supply line. It could take week, maybe months to pull off, but… if there is a chance…we have…" He hesitated trying to find the right words, "I have to take it. I need to be on that mission." He turned to look at Shiro, "Shiro, you are the rightful leader of this team. And you proved it today by reconnecting with the Black Lion. It was always meant to be yours."

Shiro after listening to his speech, without interrupting, moved to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Keith… if this is what you feel is right, then we won't try to stop you, but just know that we're here for you whenever you need us."

Keith gave him one of his rare smiles, "I know you are. And I can't tell you how much that means to me." They embraced each other in a brotherly hug, Hunk began to cry alongside Coran at the moment. I could not help but to get misty eyes watching their farewell, I fought to place a smile on my face.

"I can't be left out." Hunk stated and ran to hug them, soon we all had joined with tears in our eyes embracing Keith tightly.

"We're really gonna miss you." Pidge said.

"Yeah, who am I gonna make fun of?" Lance jested.

"Be careful out there." I said placing my head on his shoulder.

"I know you'll make us proud." Allura added with a smile.

We pulled apart and with once last glance he turned around to go, I wiped the tears from my eyes and exited the control room after him. I called his name making him stop, he turned to look at me with a confused look. I stopped before him and looked at the ground holding my hands together, "I just wanted to say to keep in contact, don't disappear from the face of the galaxy. And over all, don't forget me."

He placed a hand on my shoulder making me look up, "Taylin, it would be practically impossible to forget a person like you. You have helped me through one of the hardest times in my life when Shiro went missing, and for that, I will always be thankful to you. With you I can be someone who I never knew I had inside of me… I'm going to miss you."

I took a step forward and wrapped my arms around him setting my head on his shoulder, his long black hair tickled the side of my face. Keith being new to the whole hugging business, took a few ticks before enclosing his arms around my form tightly.

"Take care of yourself, Taylin." He said lowly, "And watch over Shiro for me." He did the most unexpected gesture and placed a light kiss to my hair before letting me go. He reached to wipe a stray tear from my cheek and let his arm fall quickly.

"If there is anything you need, I'm here." I said with a small smile.

"I know." Keith nodded his head, gave me once last glance before turning to go into the pod hangar.

I watched him go until his form disappeared in the distance; I silently prayed to the stars to keep him out of harm.

* * *

Thanks for reading!

Its so sad Keith left, I'm crying.

Leave a comment and a like.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

 **Broken Mirrors**

It was strange not having Keith around, even though he was gone most of the time or ended up showing up late to our missions. Sometimes I would forget that he left and turn around in my seat, but his usual brooding self was missing. I had become so habituated with the other Paladin's presence; they had become my new family. Yes, the universe was cruel in taking away people who were very dear to me, but it felt like it was making up for that one mistake. Shiro was returned to us, Keith left, but the certainty of knowing he was still alive somewhere battling the Galra made it just a bit easier to bear.

Pidge was feeling the same way, often thinking about her lost brother and father. They had been missing for over two years now and their trace was growing cold. She managed to scout information from the Galra bases we infiltrated or data bestowed by the Blade of Marmora. Pidge grew more impatient by the day, even though I tried to always remind her that she should take it one step at a time. One day she found a lead on her brother and decided it was time to follow it.

All Paladins, minus Pidge, with Coran stood on the bridge of the Castle looking at the main Screen.

"Pidge, I don't like the idea of you going alone." Shiro said, "You sure you don't need backup?"

"I'm sure." Pidge responded, "The Intel that shopkeeper gave me leads me to believe they could pull out of their current location at any time. I need to act fast. This may be my only chance. Plus, you guys still have plenty to do on Olkarion."

"Be on alert Pidge." I advised, "I hope you find what you're looking for." She gave me a smile and nodded her head.

"Hey, while you're out, will you look for some more Fluuto beans?" Hunk asked with hope; Lance's eyes widen at his request.

"No, no, no!" Lance exclaimed, "No more beans for Hunk!"

Pidge let out a groan knowing fairly well why Lance was protesting, "Gotta, go." She said and turned off the visual comm.

Everyone in the room began to leave to go do their assigned tasks, I headed for the exit of the castle looking for Storm who had been absent from the Control room. I followed his energy signature through our link; it guided me to a ledge overlooking the city. He observed the crowd below with un-interest, his tail twitch side to side slowly and his scales sparkled in the sunlight; it had become a custom of him to be here.

 _"Bored?"_ I asked as I stopped next to him.

He answered not turning his gaze away from below, _"No, yes, I don't know honestly. I have this strange feeling."_

I picked up a hint of sadness, _"Storm, you know you can tell me anything. What's wrong?"_

 _"I feel… left out."_ He drew lines of the ground with one of his talons.

 _"You are as much a part of team Voltron as any of us."_ I touched his neck, he finally looked down at me.

 _"Is not the same, all Paladins including you have their lions. The lions allow you the fight outside in space not just inside the atmosphere of a planet. I want to be as useful as any of them, but I can't. I am stuck on the ground or inside the castle with no means of aiding you."_

 _"Don't say that."_ I stepped forward and took his snout in my hands, _"You are not useless. Without you I would have died long ago, you are my support. The only being in this universe who knows me inside and out. We have been bonded since I was less than a year old; Drakie and Drako united for an entire lifetime. Without you Storm, I am nothing."_

He huffed through his nostril blowing my hair around, _"You'll never be nothing, Taylin, with or without me."_ Storm looked down deep in thought before resuming, _"Perhaps the time of the Drakos has passed, we don't know if others of our race have survived. Maybe I am the last Drako left in the universe."_

I sighed and concentrated on the scales of his snout, running my hand over them softly, _"I hold hope that someday we will find others like us. If I let that hope die, I don't know what will become of me."_

Storm lifted his head and gazed down at the Olkari below, they rushed around helping refugees get settled in, some of them moved from one place to the other in their wooden mech suites, _"If only I had my armor back, it would allow me to fight in space and provide better aid when needed."_ He thought of the armor created by the Drakie scientists back on Negetia; it curled around him expanding until his whole body was covered in silver plaiting.

I crossed my arms and looked at the floor, there was nothing I would not do for Storm, even if it was something that went against my fears. The armor would be very difficult to replicate as the blue print were lost. It was made to fit him perfectly and shift at his command, it recognized his energy.

A feeling in my gut told me what I needed to do. It was something I needed to confront sooner or later, and the anxiety of not knowing was eating at me; I needed to visit my home planet or what was left of it. There might be a chance that some part of the Castle of Drakie survived, hopefully the armory, in order to retrieve Storm's armor.

I pretended to have received a massage on my wrist communicator, _"Hey, I'll see you soon. I'm needed in the control room."_

Storm nodded without suspecting anything, I retreated my mind from him and began my journey back to the castle. Thankfully I wore my Paladin armor already, I just needed to get to White's hangar without raising any suspicion. My heart beat faster as I walked through the corridors at what I was about to do, maybe it was a good idea to tell someone of my whereabouts just in case I needed to be found, but on the other hand, word would reach Storm and he would prevent me from going. I felt like a thieve sneaking around the castle, I looked behind me before turning a corner but kept walking and to my dismay, I smacked on something hard. I rubbed my head before opening my eyes to see black and slowly raised them to come face to face with Shiro.

"Are you ok?" He asked concerned taking my hand off my head and examining me for damage.

"Yes, totally fine." My chirpy voice sounded fake, I wanted to cringe.

"You seem fine, thankfully it was my chest and not the wall." He chuckled, "What were you doing sneaking around?" Shiro cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow.

"Me?" I responded pointing at myself, "Sneaking around? No, I'm not sneaking around. Why would I be doing that, pfft, sneaking." I tried to play it cool, but Shiro quickly caught on. I swear this man could read me like a book.

"Your rambling." He crossed his arms, "What are you up to?"

"Nothing, really." I quickly answered, but he said nothing and kept looking down at me with no sign of moving until I told him otherwise.

"Fine." I cracked hunching over; one look from him made me melt. "I'm going to go retrieve Storm's armor."

"Storm has armor?" He asked, "And where are you going to retrieve it from?"

"From Negetia." I said in a small voice.

"Negetia…" He trailed off, "Negetia… wait a second. Isn't that your home planet?" Shiro uncrossed his arms in realization and looked a bit shocked, "Do you know how dangerous that could be? You don't know the state your planet might be in and you are planning to go on your own? It hard to believe Storm would allow you to do so by yourself." He stopped to think and squinted his grey eyes at me, "He doesn't know, does he?"

"No." I said defeated, "But I need to try to find it. Storm is upset about not being able to help us in the war effort. It's been such a long time since I seen him like this, I can feel the sadness pouring over through our link. I need to do this for him."

"I highly doubt Storm condones putting yourself at risk. He wants you safe here."

I was beginning to feel a bit irritated, Shiro's interrogation was making me lose precious time. My need to leave was making me anxious. "You want me safe here." I said plainly, but it sounded more like an allegation.

"Well, yeah." He responded, "You are very important to me, I don't want you to get hurt."

I looked up at him and took a deep breath before saying anything back, I placed my hands on his arms, "I have to do this, please let me go." I said with a pout. Shiro glanced at me from a side view not wanting to look at me directly, we stayed like that for a few ticks until he groaned and lower his head with a deep sigh.

"Give me a few minutes, I'll meet you in your hangar."

"You're coming with me?" I asked bewildered.

"You are stubborn, and I know nothing is going to make you change your mind, so I'm coming with you." My hands slipped off his arms and he quickly reached out to catch one.

"You would do this for me?"

"I would follow you to the ends of the galaxy to make sure you are safe." He answered with sincerity, my heart fluttered at his words. He smiled before turning around to change into his armor. How I had convinced him of letting me go, was beyond me but I was glad I had someone for support on this journey.

I headed out to my hangar without meeting anyone else on the way, everything seemed quiet in the castle.

Once the hangar doors opened, the White Lion stood up ready to leave like it knew where we were going. Negetia was Nimawe's home, even though she ceased to be a Drakie such a long time ago, but roots can never really be forgotten, it's what makes us who we are.

She lowered her head to the ground inviting me in and stepped on the launch pad before I even made it to my seat.

"Wait, Nimawe." I said patting her handles, "We are still waiting on someone."

We waited for a few doboshes until finally Shiro showed up, he waved his arms in the air thinking I would launch without him. I turned White around and opened her jaws letting him in, the doors to the cockpit made a low hissing sound announcing his presence.

"Were you planning to leave without me?" He asked with a frown.

"No, Nimawe is just eager to leave." I responded with a small smile.

I turned us back to the tunnel, White plotted a course to the exit and took off in an instant. We flew close to the forest line, the green trees below passed by in a blur, some Olkari turned to look up at us and waved as we passed. I felt Shiro place his hands on the back of my seat, "Why are you flying so low?"

"To avoid getting detected by the others." I said with a bit of guilt.

"We still need to tell someone we are leaving the planet, Taylin." He stated, "They will be worried."

I sighed, "You're right, but I prefer to tell Coran than to have to speak with Allura. She will not be happy with my plans." I pressed some buttons on my control panel without further comment and Coran's face appeared on my screen, he was on the control room as usual.

"Queen Fireheart, in what may I be of service?"

"Coran, we just wanted to inform you that we will be leaving Olkarion for a short while. We will try to be back as soon as possible."

"Where are you going?" Coran asked confused.

"Just know that it's for a good cause." I answered not waiting to reveal more to him.

"That's not much to go on, the others will not agree you both going solo."

"Do me a favor, please let them know we left until we are missed." He looked at me hesitantly but nodded his head. I closed down the comm and pulled my lion's handles back shooting us out of the atmosphere with an incredible speed. Knowing Storm, he must have sensed something was up and the moment I left the planet, he would know of my absence. I was in for a scolding at my return.

I placed in the coordinates into my control panel and we were off, the stars passed by guiding us with their light against the darkness of space. As we moved a feeling of dread began to crawl up from my stomach to my heart. I was afraid to know how my planet was destroyed, I never imagined that I would return after so long. My hands began to tremble and sweat, I tried to steady them by grabbing onto my handles harder, but it was no use. Shiro placed a hand on my shoulder seeing my distress, "I'm here." Was all he said. If it wasn't for him, I would have surely cowards back to Olkarion, but his reassurance and presence gave me the strength to keep going.

In my anguish, I had lost track of how much time had transpired and soon my control panel lit up informing us that we neared our destination. Familiar star constellations began to appear; I looked at them with sorrow remembering how Mother and I use to look up at them from the balcony of my room. My heartbeat sped up, it felt like it was beating in my throat and ears. The White Lion growled as we got closer and before us stood Negetia. I tried to always be strong and look at the bright side of everything, but this was something I was totally unprepared for. Bits of the planet's surface floated around in the blackness, its beautiful aura was gone leaving a vastness so big it looked terrifying. It was dark and grey like it had never seen light at some point in its life. In its outer rim floated a grave yard of Drakie ships all tattered and broken. This must have been the last defense of the planet, but they were no match for Zarkon, he had over powered them and destroyed Negetia leaving it to resemble Daibaazal. Zarkon had gotten his revenge after the destruction of his own home world; if only he had understood he was the one the blame.

I could no longer sit and look at my dead planet, I abruptly stood up and walked to the back of the cockpit holding my head. Angry tears began to surface wetting my face and I took off my helmet throwing it on the ground in rage, and I broke. Tears began to flow like a river as I paced from one end of the cockpit to the other. Shiro came up to me after seeing my outburst and stopped me in my tracks by taking me in his arms. He embraced me so tightly trying to make me comprehend I was not alone in any of this.

"Taylin, you are going to be okay." He reassured, "You will find your people and establish a new home for them, and through it all, I will never leave your side. I will stand by you no matter what happens."

I could not help to think how lucky I had been to find someone like Shiro, his love and affection for me traveled through our bond and flooded me with a warm feeling pushing back the grief. He kept on whispering promises to me, caressing my hair and back, never letting go. Shiro brought me out of my sorrow and soon my cries had died down until they were just silent scuffles.

" Can you please take over for me?" I asked, "I don't think I can pilot right now."

He kept his arms around me and stood their hesitantly but pulled apart after a few ticks removing some of my tears from my face with his gloved hand. Shiro moved to sit on my seat and placed his hands on the White Lion's controls, thankfully, she did not protest and allowed him to pilot her.

We moved in carefully to avoid getting hit by the planet's debris, I pointed at the location where the Castle of Drakie stood on a map on the screen. When we broke the atmosphere, everything seemed to be the same color as the planet outside. All the buildings that once stood bright and tall wore a blanket of grey, the sky above us continued to be the same black as the space around us. This place did not seem to be the planet I was born in; I decided to think of it that way to avoid having another emotional break down.

As we got closer to the surface, it was becoming harder to see in the blackness, but Nimawe extended her wings which they lit up in a luminescent white light that gave us the edge we needed. The light allowed us to see the deserted castle, its high towers destroyed over the years and its once beautiful garden gone. Memories began to flood my mind at lighting speed, but I closed my eyes trying to push them back and concentrated in the task ahead. Shiro circled around a few times trying to find a safe place to land my lion close to the castle, but too many structures littered the floor, so we ended up settling down at the end of the great bridge that connected the other cities to the castle. In my time, it was more of a decoration as everyone had the means of flight.

Shiro stood up and picked up my helmet from where I had discarded it and placed it on my head. Together we stepped out of the cockpit and White lowered her head to let us out, she retracted her head and stood standing on all fours still with her wings extended; she did not want to leave us in the dark. Her light casted long shadows all around us making the place look even spookier than it was already.

"We need to cross the bridge, it's the only way to get inside." I said pointing a finger at the castle.

"I would have liked to have seen this place before the war." Shiro commented gazing at the fallen structures.

"It was an amazing place, full of color and light. Drakos of so many different colors traveled the blue skies and Drakies busied themselves in their own tasks talking to one another or training in their abilities. I used to stand in the tallest tower of the castle just looking at them carry on sometimes for vargas until my mother came looking for me." I said caught in the memory, but I grew solemn in an instant, "I did not want you to see my planet like this."

"Hey." He placed a hand on my shoulder, "Remember that everything material has at one-point, fade away, but you are still here, alive… Negetia now resides in you."

I gave him a small smile and touch the hand on my shoulder, "Let proceed, I want to be out of here as soon as possible."

We began to make our way to the entrance of the castle side by side. Some of the pillars that decorated the walk way were ether totally gone or cut in half. Pieces of the bridge's floor were missing; it was a miracle that it was still standing.

We kept on walking and when we got about half way into the bridge it suddenly began to tremble. At first, I thought nothing of it as the vibrations coursed through the bottom of my souls up the rest of my body, but they later became more intense causing Shiro to finally notice.

"Is it just me or is the ground shaking?" He asked.

"No, it began a few ticks ago." I answered analyzing our surrounding.

A loud cracking noise came from behind us making us stop and look back, everything seemed quiet and even the ground stopped moving when we did so, but that did not last for long. A section of the bridge suddenly gave out and began to create a crack toward us. Shiro grabbed my hand pulling me along as the rest of the bridge began to come down. The tumbling of rocks made us run even faster, the precipice getting closer to our feet. The landing pad still seemed at-least ten feet away and the ground beneath our feet was starting to feel less solid, it felt like an invisible force was dragging me down.

"Jump!" I yelled, Shiro followed my lead. In midair our jetpacks activated brining us the rest of the way until our feet once again touched solid ground. We looked behind us, breathing heavily, at the great abyss that now stood between us and the White Lion.

"That was close." Shiro stated still trying to catch his breath.

"Let's get inside the armory and leave before anything else comes tumbling down." I said moving toward the cracked gates. I managed to find an open space where the gate had been totally ripped of its hinge, I pressed my back on the wall and passed through. Shiro being broader than me passed by with a bit more difficulty but still managed to make it.

I turned to analyze our surroundings, the courtyard was totally in ruins, nothing stood in its rightfully place. It seemed like a giant twister had passed through and turned everything upside down. I summoned a ball of light to hover above our heads as the walls of the citadel covered us from the White Lion's.

"The armory it located on the East wing of the castle." I informed as I began to resume walking.

It was a bit difficult to move inside the castle, if you could even call it a castle anymore, most of its outside structure was destroyed. We had to ether crawl under fallen debris or use are jetpacks to aid us in getting over obstacles. It was a slow process, but we managed to make it to the armory which had a big crater on the wall were its entrance use to stand. The ball of light followed above me as we entered the room, I moved a small fallen wall to the side with my powers, leaning it against another. Swords and daggers littered the floor, but most of the important weapons were all gone, not one energy bow hung in its rack.

"How does Storm's armor look like?" Shiro's voice echoed in the room.

I turned around to look at him to explain, "Its a silver cube about this size, "I extended my arms out until they were at the same level as my shoulders, "and has thin veins coursing on the surface of its body that give off a blue glow." Shiro nodded and activated the flash light on his wrist pointing is at different areas. I went the opposite way and looked in every corner, shelve, rack, chests, anything that could hold it, but it seemed to be nowhere in sight.

"It has to be here." I whispered to myself biting my bottom lip, but the possibility of finding it was rapidly diminishing with each passing tick, the armor was nowhere to be found.

I walked back to the entrance, "Did you find anything?"

"No, I don't think its here."

I huffed and looked down at the ground, "I've been a fool to come here. I just placed your life in danger, and for what? Nothing." A gust of wind filled the room at my irritation.

"Is there any other place where it could be?" He asked.

I paced back and forth trying to clear my head and settle my emotions down before an element manifested itself, "I have no idea, it's been so long. It could practically be anywhere; the whole planet is in ruins. Perhaps, the planet was scavenged, and the armor taken, but I highly doubt they knew what they had their hands on. To anyone who see the armor, it looks like a regular cube."

Shiro took my hand stopping me from moving away from him and inter winded our fingers, "Come on, let get back to the lion. The others must know that we left Olkarion, we also need to know of Pidge's whereabouts."

I let him pull me along and together we made our way back to the entrance of the main gates. We arrived at the courtyard once again and I over looked it for one last time; so much of my childhood was engraved in the castle's very walls. The sound of my Father's and Mother's laughter resonated in my head like I was actually hearing it. The courtyard was suddenly decorated with different species of flowers and the guards standing by the doors often glanced my way with small smiles as I ran. I did not watch my footing and tripped, tumbling to the floor, my knee was scraped in the process, tears threaten to spill out of the corner of my eyes. Mother rushed to me to examine my injury, father right behind her. She looked down at it and later gazed into my eyes with a smile reassuring that it was just a scrape. She placed her hand over the scrape and closed her eyes, her hand began to glow a soft white. After a few ticks, she removed it to reveal a red spot and the scrape almost completely gone. She whispered my name with so much care as her eyes sparkled in the sunlight. I touched her face and she said my name again, but this time her voice sounded rougher until it was no longer her voice. Everything around us began to lose it color, being sucked away until I stood there in utter darkness. I closed my eyes trying to escape it, and when I reopened them Shiro was standing in front of me looking at me with worry; he had his hands on my shoulders.

"Taylin, are you alright?"

"Sorry… I just got caught up in the moment."

Shiro placed his right hand on the side of my face and bended down a bit until our helmets touched. I wanted so badly to touch his lips with my own, but our visors prevented us from doing so. The planet's atmosphere was toxic, it was uninhabitable.

"We need to find a way to get across." Shiro said breaking the silence.

"That won't be a problem." I stepped back, making his hand fall of my head. He analyzed me, and I manifested my wings extending them out as high as they could go. "I am going to carry us across." Shiro looked at them in awe being the first time he ever been close to see them for himself. He reached out a hand to touch my left wing with the tip of his pointer finger feeling the roughness of the scales on his gloved hand.

"I sometimes forget you're not human." He said with a slight chuckle.

I gave him a smile and with a finger asked him to turn around. He complied, and I wrapped my arms around his torso tightly and began to flap my wings rapidly until we were a few feet in the air, "If you're scared of heights, don't look down."

"I'm a pilot." He responded with amusement, "Heights are the least of my problems."

I kept flapping my wings until we hovered over the gates and began to move toward were the bridge once stood. It was much easier moving in one direction than going up since the extra weight did drag me down. The White Lion stood at a distance waiting for us, but when we got closer she took flight and took us into her jaws.

 _"You could have done that a while back you know."_ I told her annoyed; she growled in response.

We entered the cockpit and I took my seat taking us up and out of the planet's dead atmosphere. I sort of felt relieved to leave the planet behind. This was no longer my world, it was a fragmented mirror of what it once was, shattered and broken until it was beyond recognition.

Just as I was going to press my handles forward to activate the boosters, an enormous ship came into view from the ship graveyard floating around the planet. I immediately recognized it as the Draximum, the ship had sustained heavy damage to its hull and its main cannon was blown to pieces. As I looked it over, I had a thought, what if Storm's armor was on the ship? Surely the most important weapons could have been moved there.

Shiro, seeing me frozen, tapped my shoulder.

"I know where it could be." I said in realization; Shiro looked at me with a gaze that told me to continue.

"If the armory of the castle was completely empty, it stands to reason that all weapons were moved aboard the main starship." I pointed at the ship outside that floated slowly in our direction.

"Well, let get moving then." He said and placed himself behind me.

Moving White to the Draximum was no easy task, we had to avoid several ships that clustered around it, White's size made it a bit more difficult. A few scrape here and there later and we finally docked in the upper hatch. We exited to lion through the chest plate and floated down the hatch. Everything was incomplete darkness inside; creaking noises came from down the halls.

"Which way?"

I activated a map of the ship on my communicator and a pointed toward our left. Together we moved in silence flashing our lights at any dark corner that could conceal a danger. We finally made it to some double doors and with the help of Shiro, I managed to get them open revealing yet another dark room. I pointed my light toward the main control panel of the ship's armory and placed my hand on the ignition button. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but suddenly the control panel flickered to life.

"Huh, I'm surprised the backup generator is still working." I said typing away searching for the ship's manifest.

"Can you turn on the lights?" Shiro asked.

"Let me see." I opened another screen on the panel but as much as I wanted to, the system would not let me access the lights due to low power; the little amount of energy the generator had left was powering the control panel currently in my hands. "Not enough power to turn on the lights." Shiro just nodded and began to flash his light around the room while I resumed my work. I scrolled through the countless items that would be aboard the ship, I kept of scrolling, but it would not appear. I growled in frustration and kept searching more quickly just reading the beginning of each item, until I finally found what I was looking for.

"I found it!" I exclaimed raising my hands up in the air, "It is quadrant 675 inside the storage compartments."

I floated to the doors located in the back of the room and placed my palm on the panel, it scanned my hand and a verity of number and letters began to pass by in a blur until my name popped on the screen and glowed green opening the doors. Most of the compartment were empty, I wondered as we moved along what had happened during the fight to protect Negetia. Had my father been on board when the ship when it was destroyed? It pained me to know that so many people lost their lives in this final battle, if only I could have been around to do something about it, but my father had locked me away on The Castle of Lions before I could protest.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that Shiro had to snapped me out by taking my arm and pulling me back; I passed by compartment 675 without noticing.

"This is it." Shiro said pressing the button on the side making the doors slide open with a low hiss.

I wanted to bite my nails off as we waited for the small doors to finally open, when Shiro finally peaked inside he reached for something and brought out a silver cube that glowed a soft blue in the darkness.

"Yes, we found it." I cheered with joy.

"Wow, this is amazing." Shiro commented, "I never seen anything like it."

He passed the armor to me and I took it in my arms graciously with a smile and began to follow him out of the storage room. Before we exited the armory completely I noticed a small data storage unit that floated at a corner by the entrance. I took it my hand before making my way out and back to the White Lion. I stored the armor in White's lower hangar and took my place at the hem of the ship to fly us out back to Olkarion.

I felt much at ease on our way back, thanking the ancients for not letting us come back empty handed. In all honesty, it had hurt me to see my planet in ruins but finding what I was looking for brought a spark of happiness to my heart that I refused to let go. I would often glance to the side to see Shiro also wearing a smile, he smiled wider when he caught me looking. I took my hand off my right handle and took his hand in mine, "Thank you for coming with me, I'm glad I bumped into you in the castle."

He chuckled, "Correction, hurt yourself on my chest while trying to sneak out."

His statement caused me to let out a snort, "You still complied and came with me making you my accomplice."

Shiro let go of my hand and placed a finger under my chin, "Who could say no to that face." His comment made me blush, which only made him smile wider, "You see, I can still make you turn scarlet."

I had no other option than to laugh.

All the way back to Olkarion Shiro and I bickered with smiles and laughs that is until the planet came into view and the voice of Allura ended our moment, "Taylin! Where have you been?! Do you know how worried I was when Coran told me you and Shiro had left? And don't get me started on how Storm almost chased Coran out of the castle because he didn't know where you went."

I took a deep breath before answering, her reaction was to be expected, "Allura, we are both fine. We went to Negetia to retrieve Storm's armor."

"You went to Negetia?" She asked more softly; her voiced laced with sorrow, "How… how did it go?"

"That's not my planet anymore." Was my grim response; Allura did the probe any further.

"Just get back to the castle, alright." She said.

"Allura, have you heard from Pidge?" Shiro asked.

"Actually yes, she is heading back to Olkarion." She responded.

"Ok, we'll see you soon." Shiro said and turned off the comm.

"I wonder is Pidge found her brother." I said in thought.

"I hope she did." Shiro added in a serious tone, "For her sake."

We soon broke the Olkari atmosphere and plotted a course to the landing pads established for the lions outside the castle. Storm came whooshing down next to my assigned space and looked up, I could feel his gaze on us like a million daggers shot once.

The White Lion touched down and bended down to open her jaws to let us out, but I made no move to stand. "I really want to stay in here."

Shiro let us a sigh, "You knew this would happen, now you have to face the consequences."

I bowed, and my head growled, "Fine."

I followed him out and exited the lion to be met with bright blue eyes laced with concern, fear, relief, and anger.

 _"Why did you not tell you where leaving?! I was so worried about you. And worst of all you did not tell Coran exactly where you were going."_ He scolded.

 _"I promise you I never meant bad intent. I did not want to feel your sadness anymore. For the past couple of days, you have been brooding over that ledge feeling sorry for yourself because you could not aid us better."_ Storm was about to say something but retreated knowing fairly well my statement was true. _"I journeyed to Negetia to retrieve the one thing that can let you battle inside and outside the atmosphere without getting your lungs crushed."_

 _"You found my armor?"_ He asked bringing his head down to my level.

 _"We found it."_

Stormed closed his eyes for a few ticks letting out gust of air through his nostrils, _"I don't know if to be mad at you, eat you, or try to kiss you, but what you have done for me will never be forgotten."_

I placed a hand on his snout, _"You know I will do anything for you."_

 _"As would I."_ Storm lifted his head a bit and place the tip of his snout on my forehead letting a feeling of warmth fill my whole body. It was a feeling that no sun could ever replicate, it was the warmth of true love.

* * *

Hello everyone, thanks for reading.

Thank you all for your lovely comments and the support.

Isn't lovely how Tay cares for Storm, I just love does two and Shiro's care for her as well makes me fuzzy inside.

 _ukitakeitalialover041757-Great chapter and I finally caught up with your story. Loved the Shiro x Taylin moments. I live for them!_

 _APridefulSin-yes! amazingly well done. love it_

 _Anonymous-E-Sad that Keith leaves, but he is still Team Voltron. I like how you added the end scene with Taylin saying goodbye to Keith before he left to continue his role the Blades. 10 out of 10._

 _rinpup14-God I'm caught up with all the episodes and how ur gonna fix ur plot with them is killing me with anticipation_


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

 **Falling From The Sky**

After the incident between Coran and Storm, Coran decided to head out on a mission to retreat some refugees looking for a new home. Allura and Lance went with him as she was the only who could open wormholes and Lance could not pass an opportunity to accompany her. We watched from the upper platforms how the Castle of Lions took flight and left the Olkari atmosphere. The mighty ship lifted off with ease and glimmered as it disappeared from sight, it was incredible that after so long, the castle was still functional. As I continued to gaze up at the sky, I felt someone nudge my shoulder. I turned around to see Storm looking down at me with a bit of enthusiasm and hope shining in his eyes.

 _"Can we please go try on my armor?"_ He pleaded.

I chuckled at his excitement, _"Sure we can."_

Shiro and Hunk stood with their arms crossed talking about the refugee camps set up and how much good the Olkari had done by receiving them on their planet. I made my way to them stopping Hunk from continuing his statement, "Hey, Storm and I are going to head out to test his armor. Let us know if we are needed."

"I would ask to come, but I know it's going to involve heights. So, I'm okay here." Hunk said pointing down at the floor with a slight grin.

"I'll let you know." Shiro stated and ran a hand through my hair with a smile. I returned the expression and he nodded for me to go. I ran to Storm who stood eagerly at the edge of the platform hunched over ready to take flight, he lowered his head to the side and I grabbed on to one of his horns for him to lift me up and onto his back. Storm leaped off and glided to White's landing pad to pick up the armored cube that stood by Nimawe's front paws, left there by Shiro.

 _"Where should we go?"_ Stormed asked eyeing our surroundings.

 _"Let's head into the forest as the refugees are still getting accustomed to your presence. Seeing you in your armor might scare them."_

Storm nodded his head and gave a hum of approval, he once again jumped off the platform to take flight toward the edge of the forest. He flapped his wings rapidly, ascending until the horizon was in front of us, where the trees and the sky meet. It had been a while since we had flown together, even after the defeat of Zarkon, things have been really busy. Taking care of the incoming refugees or freeing planets from the Galra rule was no easy task. It felt nice to hang low for a change and just fly freely like the wind that ran its invisible fingers through my hair. A feeling of content flowed from Storm to me making me feel even more alive. I closed my eyes and extend my arms out with a laugh just feeling the elements around me.

Storm found the perfect spot to land, one where the trees formed a circle around a small clearing; he took me by surprise when he suddenly retracted his wings and dived. The upper half of my body fell back until it touched the roughness of his scales.

 _"Hey! You did that on purpose!"_ I protested with a grin.

 _"Just keeping you on your toes."_ He retorted with a laugh.

Storm landed with a loud thud; the animals hiding among the bushes rushed out of their spots to run in different directions, some of the leaves upon the trees floated down with the ruffle of his wings. I leaped of his back and examined the area, the golden rays of the sun shinned through the trees igniting the shade with hues of yellow, the soil beneath are feet felt mushy as if there had been rain recently; the whole forest was covered in a blanket of silence, only the occasional snap of a twig from the smaller beings could be heard.

 _"These are my usual hunting grounds."_ Storm said as he watched me attentively observing the scenery.

 _"No wonder the small creatures bolted when they saw you."_ I said turning around with a smile, _"I like it here, it reminds me so much of the forests back home."_

 _"You haven't showed me what you saw in your visit to Negetia."_ Storm reminded, _"When will you show me?_

I huffed and looked down at the ground playing with a few strands of grass with my foot, _"There is not much to show, Storm. The planet we use to know is long gone, that is no longer Negetia. It is a twisted reality of what it once was, plummeted in darkness. If you want to see for yourself, feel free to look through my memories, but I warn you, it isn't pretty."_ I waited for Storm to start flipping through my mind, but after a few doboshes, he did not do so. _"Something Shiro told me when we were on Negetia has been replaying in my head since we left. He told me that Negetia now resides in me… The whole essence of our people now resides within us, Storm. Nothing will ever change where we came from, but what we decide to be from this point on is up to us. Whatever happens, we will always have each other, and we will represent our people wherever we go."_

Storm took a step forward making me look up at him, _"Your right, we need to make the best of what we have and what we are now. No point in dwelling in the past, however, it is inevitable that it will come back to haunt us on occasions, but we will get through it."_ He pondered on his next words for a few ticks, _"I could not be prouder of the person you have become, to be able to call you my bonded partner brings immense joy to my heart. You have become more than a Queen, and I am sure that where ever your parents reside, up in the cosmos, they will surely be looking down at you with pride."_

I touched his snout and gave a wide smile, _"And I am glad to call you my Drako."_ Stormed hummed, sending vibrations through my hand and throughout my body. _"Now let's do what we came here for, before we are called back, or something happens."_

We took a few steps back from each other, Storm placed the cube between us observing it as its veins pulsed with blue light. He then looked up at me and I nodded with my head for him to proceed. With the tip of his talon, he touched its surface and its veins began to pulse rapidly and its light became brighter. Its silver surface started to shift, like it was alive, in odd angles until it latched on to Storm's left paw and began to crawl up his limb slowly. Back then it had been a fast process, but it seemed that the armor was familiarizing itself once again with its wearer.

Storm kept his paw in the air watching the armor slither up his neck and come around until it stopped in the middle of his chest. The light emanating from it suddenly ceased and on its center was the insignia of the water Drakies; it was a lone water droplet about eight inches in height.

 _"Is that what supposed to happen?"_ I asked confused.

 _"Uh, let me try something."_ Storm closed his eyes in concentration trying to ignite the armor once again, but nothing happened. I began to fiddle with the tips of my gloves as time passed and observing the kinds of plants in the clearing. Something about the Olkari forest fascinated me, they seemed to have a mind of their own and how the people had managed to connect with nature and transform them into working objects left me in awe since the first time I witnessed it.

I began to ponder in our journey since the reunification of Voltron and the planets we had managed to save from the Galra, I sat down crossed legged on the ground and picked at the strands of grass; there was not much I could do, it was all up to Storm now. When I looked up at him, he seemed to be lost in the depths of his own mind, nothing around him could break his concentration even when I accidentally flicked a rock with my foot at the nearest tree. I was about to lay down to gaze up at the sky when the insignia on the armor began to glow a bright blue, I had to cover my eyes at its intensity, the sound of metal shifting suddenly filled the silence. I moved away from the beam of light finally being able to see and saw how the armor began to click into place all over Storm's body. It expanded from his chest to his shoulders and connected to the wings at his side. Storm's dark blue scales began to disappear underneath the silver surface with each clicking sound until he was covered in it from head to tail. The veins that once adorned the surface of the cube now trailed over his body glowing with its original blue color, each talon ignited in the same light and when he opened his eyes, they were a mesmerizing azure color.

Storm lifted his wings to examine them; the metal rubbed on each other making scraping noises in the process. The inside of his wing was mostly silver, cut into sections, each section was divided by a small glowing vein. The veins where designed to store the kinetic energy of his wings and provide an extra boost to his flight making him about half as fast as a Voltron Lion. The armor would cover or retract from his mouth depending on the type of atmosphere he was currently, in space he mostly had to rely on his talons, tail, and powers as his weapons. Storm, with a single thought, could order the reinforcement of the armor in certain areas to provide better cover.

 _"How do I look?"_ He asked.

 _"Like you are ready to take down a Galra fleet and form Voltron with us."_ I answered still looking over the armor fascinated.

 _"Shall we test it out?"_ Stormed asked with eagerness as he lowered his body to the floor placing one of his wings closer to the ground like a stepping stone to his back.

 _"I would love to, but I forgot my helmet back on the platform. So, we can only fly inside the planet."_

His eagerness diminished, but then he had a thought, _"Then let's go get it. What's the point of using an armor that was meant to be used in space, when I can't use it outside the planet."_

I looked at him hesitantly, that was exactly what I did not want to do, the refugees would spot him in an instant and does who were not familiarized with him would become frightened. _"Come on Tay, live a little. It'll be fun."_ He persuaded nudging my shoulder with his snout, _"The wide-open skies. The thrill of heights. Air acrobats that only we Negetians know how to do."_

I crossed my arms and squinted my eyes at him playfully, _"You know me too well… You had me at heights."_

He gave a roar in triumph as I ran up to his wing lifting myself up onto his back, once I was safely secured between his massive shoulder blades he flapped his wings and began to leave the ground behind. The trees around us swayed with the wind brought upon them and with one final strong flap, we shot up into the sky. We flew faster than Storm normally could, using the armor to his advantage. I held on tightly to his neck as the force of the wind threatened to pull me off his back.

Storm flew above the forest in one big loop before making his way back to the landing platforms. He brought us even higher into the sky, the sun was brighter and the wind colder, it felt like we could almost touch the heavens. Storm left his wings extended letting the winds carry him down, slowly descending.

 _"So, what's it going to be?"_ He wondered, _"Fly down and grab or dive down and save?"_ Memories of our childhood flooded his mind at the dangerous stunts we use to pull away from the watchful eye of my parents or our care takers. I watched him flip through each one with happiness and adrenaline; his joyful energy transmitted to me.

 _"Shiro is so going to kill me…but my mind is made up."_ I said with a slow grin growing on my face, _"I'm diving."_

 _"Good choice. Just tell me when you're ready."_

I took a deep breath letting the pure air from above fill my lungs and the sun caress my face with its warmth. A chuckle escaped my lips, _"I can't believe I'm actually going to do this. It's been a while since I felt this free."_ Storm began to glide side to side and his laugh echoed in my head. I slowly let the grip of my legs loosen until the air lifted me off, the only thing that was keeping me in place was my arms around his neck. _"I left my helmet on top of one of White's paws, I'll see you down below."_ With that said, Storm flipped over until he was flying upside down and I let go. I felt weightless falling from so high up, it was almost like a cushion of air was holding me up.

I spun around to face the ground and changed my trajectory toward White's platform that still looked like a tiny dot in the distance. I extended my arms out to slow down my decent and allow me to use the wind currents to guide me to my destination. Everything around moved so rapidly, the trees looked like green blurs and the Olkari buildings glimmered in the sunlight. I pushed my body forward until I front flipped and brought my hands close to my body shooting me down at an incredible speed. The people that busied themselves on the lower platforms looked up and pointed at me in wonder causing others to face up at the sky.

As I neared, the eyes of the White Lion lit up and she stood up on all fours giving a loud roar. _"Relax Nimawe, I am not in any danger."_ I communicated; she replied with a low growl. _"But I do need my helmet."_ I send her an image of it on her left paw. The ground was coming dangerously close as I only hovered about twenty feet in the air. Nimawe lifted her left paw throwing the helmet in the air which I took graciously in my waiting arms. Just as I was about to hit the ground, Storm appeared out of the blue and caught me in his talons shooting us up in the air. He let out a roar and I joined him by cheering loudly and laughing. He took me in his right paw and placed me close to his neck for me the grab on to, with my helmet secured on my head, I climbed on to his back. Once Storm felt my legs tightly on his back, he flapped down once, and bright blue sparks emanated from his wings bringing us up at super speed to the vastness of space. He used his leg force to keep climbing until we could see Olkarion whole.

We floated there in silence just taking in the scenery before us, in the place where the tendrils of space let us rest, weightless. It felt like old times, when I had no Lion of Voltron, where it was just him and me fighting alongside our forces and saving each other's lives. When we moved swiftly and with precision through enemy forces and took down Galra fighters. The voices of my fellow elite guard members echoed in my head, they would always fly beside us in their own space ships protecting us from every angle. We managed to work sometimes without uttering a word; we knew each other so well. If only Varek, Marel, Sapphire and Nisa were here with us in this moment, it would have added that touch of perfection. They knew what needed to be done before I even gave the order, that's what made them so efficient.

Time passed as Storm just let us drift inside the gravity line of the planet, on occasion, a refugee or resistance ship would appear and enter the Olkari atmosphere. Some of them were caught by surprise at seeing a Drako up in space, but relaxed when they noticed the glowing insignia of Voltron on my shoulders and chest.

The Castle of Lions suddenly came out of a wormhole and made its way to land. I waved at them as they passed by, Coran's voice broke the silence, "Queen Fireheart is that you?"

"Yes, it's me Coran." I smiled. Storm moved to intercept them and held on to the side of the castle catching a ride down to the surface, he let go when the ship began to move in a vertical position activating the landing gear. Storm landed gracefully on the platform, his silver armor casted beams of light as it reflected the sunlight. I jumped off his back as Shiro and Hunk approached us.

"You really want to give me a heart attack, don't you?" Shiro said stopping in front of me with his arms crossed.

I chuckled placing a hand on his bicep, "Come on don't be mad, Storm and I have done these types of dives since we were children. We have it all down to the minimum error, plus I could save myself at any time by summoning my own wings."

"You see, that's why I did not want to come." Hunk commented fiddling with his pointer fingers, "I can't imagine falling from so high up, its stuff of nightmares. What if something goes wrong? I would never be able to taste my favorite foods ever again or taste new once." Shiro looked at him rising and eyebrow, but a small smile slowly appeared on his face.

"Well you too seem to make a great team." Shiro praised looking back at us, "Just warn me next time you decide to perform the kiss of death."

"Yeah," Hunk laughed, "Shiro legitimately let out a yelp. He thought you got knocked out or something."

 _"One of my greatest dreams was to fly down from the Helma Mountains back on our home planet."_ Storm said, _"A few attempted it, but froze about half way there since they were so high up, with this armor, it wouldn't have been a problem. Too bad it will only stay like that… a dream."_ He added with a hint of disappointment.

"We still have a lot of new planets to explore, perhaps we can find a mountain range suitable for your adventures." I said patting his leg. The armor began to shimmer and contract until it was once again only on his chest, revealing the dark blue scales of his body.

 _"Perhaps."_

A pod began to descend from the castle and it opened to reveal Lance and Allura, they walked up to us and greeted with a hello and a few smiles.

"How are things?" Allura asked as she came to a stop beside me.

I touched her shoulder and showed her what Storm and I had done, she gasped at the memory and looked at me dumbfounded. "I really hated when you did that, it makes me so nervous."

 _"Shiro almost jumped out of skin."_ Storm said with a laugh, joining the conversation.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, Storm." She said with a smile.

Just then, the pod of the castle appeared lowering down refugees, they began to flood out analyzing their new surroundings as this would be their new home. The pod made countless trips until Coran appeared trying to squeeze himself through some big looking aliens, "Excuse me! Coming through!" He grunted. He finally managed to make it through only to yell and fall face flat on the ground. The aliens began to rush out stepping on him like a stamped of wild animals.

I covered my mouth trying not to laugh as he stood up with his uniform dirtied, "Just right in there. They'll get you sorted out." Coran called after the aliens, but they were already out of earshot.

"Is that the last of them, Coran?" Allura asked.

"That's it." He responded placing his hands on his hips, "A few hundred more souls looking for a new home."

"A few hundred more soldiers in the fight against the Galra." Shiro added with a smile.

I was about to ask Coran if he was okay after the stampede, but a lion roar interrupted my thoughts and the shadow of the Green Lion fell upon us.

"Pidge is back!" Hunk cheered.

The Green Lion landed in its assigned platform and Hunk immediately took off running to greet her. Everyone else began to follow, I stayed behind with Shiro who calmly walked after them.

The lion lowered its head to the floor letting out an overly excited Pidge and a boy who followed behind her with a grin watching her enthusiasm.

"She found him." I gasped taking hold of Shiro's arm, looking at them with a wide smile.

Pidge began to introduce the team one by one; he seemed to fan over Allura when she pointed her out but broke out of his daze when Lance suddenly stepped behind her with an angry frown. He rubbed his eyes and opened his mouth to say something but stopped when his gaze landed on Shiro; he gasped his name.

Lance and Allura moved aside to let him through as he came to stand before Shiro with a look of happiness, "It's so good to see you," He said excitedly extending his hand out, but suddenly became nervous, "Um, sir." Shiro took his hand and pulled him into a brotherly hug taking him by surprise, but he quickly relaxed returning the gesture.

Shiro pulled back, "Pidge never gave up on finding you."

"Yeah, she can be pretty stubborn at times." He said looking back at her.

"You got that right." I said, making myself known.

Pidge's brother looked at me with his mouth hanging open, "This place is full of beautiful women. Why didn't you find me sooner, Pidge?"

I let out a low chuckle; Pidge stepped forward with her hands behind her back to introduce us. "This is Taylin Fireheart, Queen of The Drakie. Tay, this is my brother Matt."

"It's nice to meet you Matt, Pidge has told a me a lot of things about you." I said extending my hand to him, he took it with a wide smile, a few ticks passed, and he still would not let my hand go. I gave a confused chuckle.

Pidge nudged her brother with her elbow, "She is also Shiro's girlfriend."

He stopped shaking my hand, "Oh." And looked between Shiro and I. "You have a very pretty girlfriend." Matt stated rubbing his neck, turning slightly red.

"I know." Shiro said and placed an arm over my shoulders bringing me closer to his side with a smile.

"Pidge is a very dear friend to all of us." I said, "She is practically family and anyone of her blood siblings is welcomed in our fold. Know that everyone here is ready to help you search for your missing father." Matt nodded his head in gratitude and Pidge came forth to embrace my side; I patted her head.

Matt suddenly jumped back and screamed covering the side of his face with his hands; a shadow fell upon us.

 _"Why am I not surprised."_ Storm commented, _"Humans are so predictable."_

"Sheesh Matt, relax." Pidge said stepping in front of her brother, "This is another of our team members. Storm, a Drako of the planet Negetia."

Storm lowered his head until his breath ruffled Matt's hair, _"Hello Earthling."_ Matt gave him a sheepish smile with a small wave, his face later changed into that of shock and looked down at his sister, "Did he just talk?"

 _"Alright, I'm done."_ Storm grumbled and turned around to leave to his usual resting spot.

"Excuse my Drako, he can be sensitive at times." I apologized for him.

"Uh-hu." Matt uttered still looking behind us at Storm.

"Come on Matt, I'll explain later." Pidge said pushing her brother in the direction of the ship, "I want to show the castle!"

We watched them go inside with smiles at their reunion, it felt heartwarming that after so long, two lost souls had finally found each other. Everyone stood there until Lance said he was headed to his room and the others began to disband into different places. I felt Shiro take my hand and begin to guide me to the entrance of the castle, "You hungry?"

I was about to answer when my stomach beat me to it by giving a low growl, "Do I really need to answer that?"

He laughed at my statement, over all the commotion of testing out Storm's armor, I had forgotten to feed myself since early morning. The walk to the kitchen was peaceful and silent and only broken when we bumped into Matt and Pidge running in the hallway; Matt chasing after his sister, which she talked nonstop trying to explain every detail of The Castle of Lions.

Sometimes no words needed to be said and only being next to each other or holding hands made up for all the bad things that occurred during the day, this was one of does times. Being with Shiro simply brought me a deep content to my being that I could not explain, his presence made me feel safe.

When we got to the kitchen, Shiro took two plates from the storage inside the island in the middle and handed one to me. He went up to the food dispenser and observed the two hoses tapping his bottom lip with his middle finger.

"Are you seriously thinking what you're going to get?" I asked with laugh, "Because nothing else is going to come out of their but the usual green goo."

Shiro joined me with a deep chuckle, "It doesn't hurt to feel like I have options."

"Sure, it doesn't." I took a step forward and filled my plate with the goo and motioned for him to bring his plate closer to serve him as well. We took our food to the island, instead of heading to the dining hall, and began to eat.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked as I finished gulping my second bite.

Shiro took spoonful of his food and nodded his head.

"Is the term girlfriend the same thing as mate? Is that how Earthlings call their mates?"

Shiro finished chewing before he answered, "Well…. No. The term girlfriend for us is more of a statement that changes the statues of a relationship from being just friends to something more. It usually applied when a woman is in a deeper relationship with a man and they are together." He explained looking a bit flustered, "Does that even make sense?"

"So, what does mate mean to you?" I asked.

He rubbed the back of his neck setting his spoon down, the tips of his ears began to turn a bit pink, "Um, it means that we… you know. You and me…" Shiro motioned his hand from me to him, but I gave him a confused look not following what he was trying to say, until realization hit me.

"Oh." I voiced clearing my throat, "I didn't know that word meant that for your people. I guess mate is the equivalent of girlfriend in Earth customs. For us it just means that you have chosen to be with someone and maybe get married in the future which would change the statues of the woman to _Namenhu,_ meaning wife."

Shiro listened to me attentively and when I finished he looked like he wanted to say something else but decided against it. "Is there something you want to ask me?" I smiled at him in reassurance.

"It's nothing, really." He said brushing it off.

"Come on Shiro." I pushed getting closer to him, looking up at him with a slight pout.

"Oh no, that is not going to work on me again." He said with a smile and tap my nose with the tip of his spoon leaving some goo there.

"Hey, what was that for?" I said rubbing the goo off my nose, Shiro tried to apologize but I had something else in mind. I scooped up some of my goo and lunged at his face, the goo hit him in-between his eyes. I covered my mouth trying to scuffle a laugh; Shiro narrowed his eyes at me, "Two can play at that game."

He grabbed some of the goo he had left and threw it at my direction, I squealed and moved back but it still hit my chest. I moved to grab some more and returned fire running away from his line of aim.

"Come back here." Shiro stated playfully and came running after me, "Don't expect to start a war and run away from it."

He chased me around the island a couple of times managing to miss me by a hairs length until I suddenly slipped on some goo that had fallen on the floor. Shiro catches me from behind before I hit the ground, turned me around and sat me on the counter.

"Got you." He joked with a grin, "You just can't get away from me."

"Oh really? You want to see?" I mocked and got closer to his face, our noses inches away.

Shiro looked me in the eyes with his mesmerizing grey gaze that always sent shivers down my spine. He scanned my face until his gaze landed on my lips, "You have no idea what you do to me. I'm not going to lie, I did see other women back on Earth but none of them matched your beauty."

"I'd say I'm jealous, but I was sort of in a coma for about ten thousand years so, no harm done."

Shiro leaned closer, his hot breath on my face, he stayed like that for a few ticks until he finally connected his lips to mine. My mind immediately shot up to the highest place in the universe. There was no one there but us, everything around us always faded away when we shared moments like these. He began to push against me leaning me back further onto the counter, I wrapped my legs around his waist not wanting to have any space between us. A fire, so intense, coursed through my veins and warmed every part of my body until it felt like it was in flames. It tickled my insides and prickled the top of my skin; it was a good feeling. I felt like tearing off my armor until there was nothing denying me of his touch. Everything was perfect, until someone cleared their throat and squealed. Our lips broke apart and we both looked to the entrance of the kitchen, Hunk was standing their looking nervous, "I, uh, sorry, um, I'll come back later."

I suddenly noticed our positions and felt my cheeks heat up at the embarrassing posture. Shiro moved back and pulled me to a standing position, "No, you don't have to leave. We are uh… done here."

Shiro grabbed my hand and tugged me out of the kitchen, I send an embarrassed trail of apologize to Hunk before we disappeared from sight.

When we made it to the end of the hall, we turned to look at each other and burst out laughing.

Pidge and Hunk called an emergency meeting in the control room, with the help of Matt, they had managed to create a map of Galra forces moving in nearby sectors. They had intercept a transmission of a Galra fleet moving in to attack.

"Whoever they're attacking, we have to help." Allura stated.

"I don't like it." Shiro voices, "We should be gathering intelligence, not diving into a fight without knowing why, especially now that we know Zarkon is alive."

That was a thought I was trying to keep out of my head since I found out a few vargas ago, Zarkon was still breathing in this universe. Somehow, he had managed to survive our last battle and it was just a matter of time before he came back in full force to rule his empire and pursue our destruction; it seemed we could never get away from him.

"We could go check it out." Pidge suggested.

"I think they'd probably notice us." Lance said looking down at her.

"Not if we're clocked." She remarked with a smirk.

"You have cloaking?" Matt asked shocked, "Who are you?" Pidge rubbed her neck and grinned widely at her brother's praise.

"I don't think is wise to send in just one lion." I stated, "If you are somehow tracked, you will be easily overwhelmed. There are more than five battle cruisers heading to that area and that's not including the fighters aboard. Its way to dangerous."

Pidge did not allow my comment to disappointment, rather, she perked up when an idea popped into her head; that's one of the things I admired about her, she had faith in her abilities. "I'm pretty sure I can upgrade Voltron with cloaking. We could all go."

Everyone looked at her surprised, "Were you just waiting for your big brother to show up before you rolled that one out?" Lance remarked elbowing her.

"How can we do that?" I asked surprised.

"It's something I've been working on for a while." She answered, "But I can't pilot the Green Lion and operate the cloaking at the same time." Pidge looked at her brother once again with a grin, "But if I had a co-pilot…"

"Absolutely." Matt agreed without a second thought.

"Let's get to the lions." Shiro ordered.

We got on our lions and formed Voltron once we were in space, I set a course to the Galra fleet coordinates moving us as fast as we could. At the pace we were going, soon before us were dozens of Galra cruisers opening fire, "We're getting close. Everyone, get ready." Shiro said.

"What is so important in this sector that they had to launch a whole battalion of ships to take it out." I commented, "Fights inside the Galra ranks are becoming bigger every-time."

"Better they take each other out, it leaves us with less to do." Lance added.

"Initializing cloak." Pidge said, "I'm not sure how long we can keep this up."

"All right, let's take a look at who the Galra are attacking." Allura said.

We stopped at a safe distance analyzing the battle before us. Purple lasers raced out of the Galra cruisers all concentrating fire in the middle of their circle. The vastness of space was ignited in yellow and orange explosions.

"What the cheese?" Lance exclaimed, "Tay is right, it's Galra-on-Galra violence, again."

"Oh, these people just do not like each other." Hunk stated.

Suddenly, two small space craft appeared on our radar moving fast towards our location.

"Whose ships are those?" Pidge asked.

The ships moved at an incredible speed and the way they maneuvered seemed very familiar to me, Allura recognized it as well, "Its Lotor."

"Lotor and Zarkon must be fighting for control of the empire." Shiro theorized.

"Not even Zarkon gets along with his own son." I said grinding my teeth.

"Guys, those ships are getting awfully close." Hunk informed.

I quickly turned us to the side before the ships could make impact with Voltron, but something about them, when they passed, made our clocking fritz.

"Uh-oh, not good." Lance voiced.

"Can someone explain what is going on?" I asked, "They didn't even graze us."

"The trails from Lotor's ship drives messed with our cloaking spectrum." Matt explained.

"Can you find a work around?" Pidge asked him.

"It's too late." Shiro said, "Our cover has been blown. We may have to engage."

The Galra ships began to fire at us, we took evasive maneuvers dodging dozens of laser cannons at once. I turned Voltron around, but a laser caught us right in front, Pidge and Lance blocked the laser before it hit the chest.

"Hunk, use you Bayard." Shiro orders.

"You go it." Hunk responded and plugged in his Bayard summoning the shoulder cannon, opening fire. The cannon fired in multiple locations hitting many ships at once.

"Let's get moving, before they can mobilize again." I said and pushed on my controls moving Voltron away from the fight and back to Olkarion. Something on my control panel began to flicker and when I tapped it Zarkon's voice came through, his menacing dark voice made me remember all the horrible atrocities he had committed; it filled me with rage.

"Attention, citizens of the Galra Empire." He said, "From this day forward, my son Lotor is to be regarded as a fugitive criminal of the empire. All citizens are authorized to use deadly force to stop him or any of his soldiers. I repeat, Prince Lotor is an enemy of the state. Engage with extreme prejudice. Kill on sight." Our eyes widen at the last part of the transmission.

I knew very well that Zarkon had no compassion, he would destroy and kill without remorse. We had to find a way to terminate Zarkon before he began an extermination mission once again with innocent beings. I needed to find a way to get justice for the loss of my parents.

Even if it was the last thing I did.

* * *

Thanks for reading and for all the support, I love you guys!

So, do you guys want to see more of Tay's Elite guard? Who is your favorite?

I hope everyone had a great week, till next time.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

 **The Voltron Show**

Zarkon's return had me on edge, hearing his voice once again had brought unwanted feelings back into my heart. Allura had the same thoughts racing through her mind as he had taken as much from her as from me. It did not seem fair that so many people had given their lives for a galactic war that he started, but he had managed to defy death over and over again. I was starting to believe that there was a higher force working against us, someone who was more powerful than Zarkon, only using him as its puppet. I mentioned this during our down time in the lodge, but Lance just brushed it off saying there was no higher power than him and I was just being paranoid. Lance might be right, but this feeling that we were being played lingered in the back of my head. Perhaps creatures from another dimension watched us as we played along in their game of destruction. It made me feel used.

Our coalition shows kept my mind busy from thinking about Zarkon and seeing the people overjoyed with sparkling eyes, looking up at the lions, made me see another perspective. All Paladins, along with Coran and Storm, stood in the control room listening to Shiro's briefing on our progress.

"Good News." Shiro said with a smile, "There's been an upsurge in planets that have been liberated from Galra control by The Blade of Marmora and the rebel forces. Convincing these planets to join coalition is priority one."

"Oh, does that mean more Voltron events?" Coran asked cheerfully.

"Yes." Shiro responded, "Believe it or not, Voltron show-of-arms goes a long way in inspiring others to join in the fight." He lifted his hand and tapped a button on a control panel making a map of the galaxies appear, "The green clusters you see here, here and here represent planets and, in some cases, entire star systems that have joined he coalition." Shiro highlighted the places on the map as he pointed them out. "Not coincidentally, those are also the areas we've personally visited."

"Wow, the coalition has really come a long way." I said with a smile watching the planet holograms flout before my eyes in astonishment.

"All right!" Lance exclaimed, "Razzle-dazzle time!" Coran gave him a look, "For the war effort, of course." Lance quickly added.

"Coran, can you set everything up?" Shiro asked.

"I know just where to start." He answered.

Coran quickly mobilized and brought us to a nearby hospital that required energy generators to serve all the incoming patients. We formed Voltron and took a hold of each generator carefully placing them into their perspective spots.

"All right, the last column's in place." Shiro said, "Now, this hospital can service the entire sector." The generator platform lit up a neon blue signaling they had started to work.

"But that's only the first step in helping these injured veterans." Coran informed over the comm, "Come on in, it's time."

"What exactly are you planning for us, Coran?" I asked curious.

"You'll see, everyone meet me in the room beside the patient gathering."

We disbanded Voltron and began to make our way to the so-called room Coran told us about, we entered to see him already waiting for us with an excited grin on his face. I took a peak outside the room to see a few injured looking at some sort of stage in front of them with bored expressions.

"Everyone check your wrist devices." Coran instructed, "I uploaded a script onto them."

I tapped my wrist communicator and found the file Coran had uploaded, I scrolled through it with a confused look.

"What is this?" Hunk asked thinking the same thing.

"Yeah, there's barely anybody out there." Lance added.

"I scaled down the show, so we can do it indoors for the patients, you know, to lift their spirits." Coran said.

"This script is very confusing, Coran." I stated trying to make sense of it.

"Yeah, this isn't even factually accurate." Pidge pointed out.

"Well, this is the Legend of Voltron," Coran shot back with his hands on his waist, "Not the Documentary of Voltron." Coran looked to his left as if he had remembered something, "Speaking of which, Allura, you'll be playing Keith." Allura groaned loudly making an irritated face, "The word of Keith leaving the team hasn't really spread yet, so I didn't want to confuse anyone. Besides, playing Keith is easy. Just act really moody."

Allura let out a low growl and turned her posture sideways crossing her arms.

"There! You've done it!" Coran exclaimed.

"Uh, I don't think the audience is going to buy that, Coran. There is one little thing you are forgetting." I stated placing my pointer finger and thumb close to each other, "Keith is a boy and doesn't ware pink armor!"

"Um, I don't think the audience knows that." Coran said scratching his head, "I hope. Anyways, come on, everyone in positions. Just follow the script."

Coran excited the small room to stand on the stage, a spot light shined down on him and he began to introduce us, "Ladies and gentle-aliens, bear witness as the Paladins of Voltron attack Zarkon's base to save the helpless Princess Allura!"

Just when he finished, the spot light was quickly moved to Shiro who already had taken his place on stage. He covered his eyes with his arm as the lights had momentarily blinded him.

"Shiro, you're on!" Coran whispered loudly from the side of the stage.

Shiro lowered his arm and looked down at his script, "Uh… I will save the princess, even if it means taking on the Galra Empire with my bare hand." He looked to his left with a frown at the pun.

"And you won't have to do it alone because you'll have me, Hunk." Hunk read from his script pointing a finger at Shiro.

"And me, Pidge." She read unamused.

"And me, Lance!" He jumped up on stage with a wide grin, "Holds Bayard dashingly- Oh." Lance realized he wasn't supposed to read that and placed his Bayard up with a sheepish smile.

I stood by the steps of the stage when I was suddenly pushed into the spot light, I looked at the audience with a frightening look; Storm laid on all fours in the back observing us. I looked down at the script quickly avoiding eye contact with anyone, "And, um, of course, me, Taylin."

"And me…" Allura said walking slowly up the stage slouching her shoulders. "Keith."

"Thank you, team, for always being by my side, through thick or thin." Shiro continued, he pressed his screen a couple of times to reveal the rest of his lines, "Now, come along. Together, we'll…"

"Defeat Zarkon!" We said together, but everyone sounded off.

Coran suddenly appeared sliding on stage on his knees with a white wig on his head, "My heroes!" He exclaimed in the most girly voice he could muster.

The spotlight finally turned off and when the house lights illuminated the room, not one patient remained, only the glittering blue Storm still rested in the back. His laughed echoed in my head, _"That was sooooo bad."_ His chest moved with his laughter as it was not just in his mind anymore.

"Well, that bombed." Hunk said.

"Yeah, speaking of bombs." Lance began, "We need to get back to doing air shows with explosions and lasers and bombs!"

We walked off the stage with frowns on our faces; Coran sighed behind us, "I was hoping to expand our horizons."

We exited the room and I kind of felt a pang of guilt, Coran was just trying to help. He might not be good at managing the show business, but his intentions were sincere. "I feel bad guys, I think we were too hard on him."

The others turned to look at me; Hunk spoke up, "Yeah, I kind of feel that way too. He was only trying to help."

"Where is Coran?" I asked looking behind us, but he seemed to have stayed behind.

Pidge huffed and sagged her arms, "I'll go get him."

"Thanks Pidge." I said with a smile and watched her run back to retrieve Coran.

Coran had planned out another event for us after the fiasco in the hospital, everyone stood in the control room as the castle landed on a very windy planet.

"Voltron air show, here we come!" Coran exclaimed as the castle finally landed.

"I hope you booked a larger venue this time." Lance said crossing his arms.

The main screen turned on revealing the planet's surface, a giant dust storm raged outside the castle.

"I'm not sure if these are the best conditions for a show." Pidge stated.

 _"I have to agree with the little one."_ Storm added, _"It would be impossible to fly in these conditions, let alone see where you're going."_

Just then a smaller screen popped up revealing the leader of the current planet, he did not look very happy to see us, "Well, if it isn't Team Voltron, a day late and a fertronium short."

"I'm sorry, is there a problem?" Coran asked.

"Is there a problem." The leader repeated harshly, "Yes! Yes, there is a problem! You were supposed to be here yesterday! It was the one day of the year we have clear skies. The other seven hundred and twenty days are like this!"

"Oh, I see my mistake." Coran said, "I forgot to calculate for time dilation."

I face palmed and looked through the slits of my fingers.

"Oh, you made a mistake?" The leader responded angrier, "The entire planet was out of their burrows for Clear-Day, just waiting. 'Where is Voltron?' They kept asking."

"Okay, th-that's on me." Coran said placing his hands up trying to get him to stop ranting, but he still continued.

"I said, 'Don't worry, they'll show up,' but did you? No! Then, everyone starts turning on me. 'You said they'd be here!"

Suddenly, the castle shook violently almost making me stumble down.

"What was that?" Allura asked.

Coran brought up the live feed from outside the castle, a giant beast pushed against our ship.

"It's a Swathian Meerakeet." The leader informed, "They show up every day of the year except one. Guess which day?"

"Okay, we get it." Lance shot back annoyed.

"Clear-Day!" The leader shouted; Lance groaned.

"I can try to calm the storm in the area where we'll be performing." I suggested.

"No, save your energy." Shiro said, "We are clearly not welcomed here."

The castle shook again; Lance held on to my arm, so I would not fall.

"Don't worry." Coran stated, "They'll chase any beam of light. I'll lead him away while we get out of here." He typed quickly into his control panel and a beam of light shot from the tip of the castle down to the floor. The creature saw it and began to chase after it giving Coran the opportunity to lift the castle off the ground and into space.

Once we were safely away from the windy planet Coran turned around to look at us with a disappointed face. "I'm really sorry about that." He apologized.

"Coran, if we're going to expand this coalition in the short amount of time that we have, we can't afford these kinds of mistakes." Shiro said calmly.

"The last show was pretty lame." Lance commented crossing his arms, "I don't know if you're cut out to be managing this whole thing."

"Just give me one more chance." Coran said lifting his gaze up with determination, "I promise to turn it around."

The others looked at him thinking over his offer, I sighed and gave him a small smile, "Of course we'll give you a second chance, Coran." Lance began to protest but I quickly shut him up by hitting him with my elbow. He whined and looked at me annoyed.

"I promise you won't regret it." Coran perked up.

 _"Let's hope not."_ Storm commented with amusement, _"Though if you Paladins did another play, I would greatly enjoy it."_

I looked behind me rising an eyebrow, _"Be quite Storm, or you're going to be a part of the next show."_

 _"Nobody is going to make me get on stage again."_ He shot back.

 _"I thought you liked the attention."_

 _"Yeah well, people can observe me from the bottom of a cliff. I will not roll over and show my belly to anyone."_

 _"We'll see."_

The following day, Coran brought us to a very familiar place. One that we had visited in our hunt for the teludav lenses. People hurried from one place to the other, strolling passed us as we took in the scenery in full Paladin armor.

"It's official." Pidge said, "We've reached rock-bottom."

"I don't think is such a great idea to come here." I stated, "The last time we came, a Galra on a hover bike chased us out."

"Yeah, I don't know is this is the best place to get our message out to the widest audience." Shiro agreed.

Coran stood at the end of our line up with his hands behind his back and a smirk that was totally uncalled for, "Shiro, baby, you're right. And I want what you want, man." I scrunched up my eyebrows at his choice of words. Shiro was nobodies baby…. But mine, I was the only one who he would allow to pamper him.

Coran continued with his weird tone of voice moving behind us, "But I've had some epiphanies, some ideas, some realizations. What we have to do is broadcast a show across an entire galaxy. We could reach the largest viewership in the history of intergalactic showbiz." He ended his stroll by getting into Shiro's personal space.

"Aw, yeah!" Lance cheered clearly convinced by Coran's words.

I placed my hand on his face pushing him back from my spot next to Shiro, "But we need to workshop some things before we can take it to the next level" Coran winked at Pidge, "You with me kid?"

"You seem different." Pidge said.

"You mean better." He said with a chuckle, "Look, it's my mission to make sure our message really sings." Coran moved to grab Lance's face from behind, "Beautiful aliens from here to Vlexlar will know your name. And your coalition will put the Galra's army to shame."

"Well, it rhymes, so its gotta me true." Hunk said.

I narrowed my eyes at Coran trying to figure out what had gotten into him, I was still not convenience; Shiro sighed beside me, "I guess we'll give it a try."

Coran raised his arms in the air in enthusiasm and began to move quickly to the lower levels of the mall.

"I for one, am happy that Storm stayed behind." I said before we began to trail after Coran.

We followed him to a stage located in the middle of the shops and stood behind the curtains awaiting instructions. Different types of aliens gathered in front of the stage with curiosity; Coran peaked through the curtains, "Okay, we have got the air show down, which is great! But we need to add a theatrical element to expand. The hospital performance was a disaster, but I think it can work if you follow my guidelines, guys. Rule number one, never walk onto stage, all right? You gotta leap onto stage, roll onto stage. I'm talking explode onto stage!" He kept making poses with each example, I took a few steps back a little creeped out; Lance cheered him on eager for the show. "Number two, don't just say your line. You gotta shout that line. Remember, louder is better!" Coran raised his voice. "And, finally, strike a pose after every movement. Everyone loves a pose. Now Shiro, Taylin, and Allura will be the first to appear. Remember everything I told you!" He yelled as he disappeared to the side of the stage, grabbing a controller as he passed.

Coran had come up with an imitation of the robot beast we fought on the Balmera. The smaller version of it rolled onto stage and Coran began to shout his lines, "Oh, no! A laser-eyes monster! We need the Paladins of Voltron!" Loud music began to play signaling our cue to jump onto stage. We flew through the air pushing aside the grey curtains and began to strike poses. I backflipped a couple of times, while Pidge landed on stage using her jetpack, Hunk rolled on to stage, and Lance jumped down finishing our formation; I crouched down in front of Lance with my legs extended almost doing a split.

"Your time's up, monster!" Lance yelled with his arms stretched in the air; the crowd cheered and clapped.

We broke formation and began to spread out forming a half circle around the monster summoning our Bayards.

Lance held his riffle and yelled, "Keith, I need your help!"

"I'm on it!" Allura yelled back.

"I'll take out its eyes!" I joined in and summoned my bow pulling back on its string and releasing an arrow that lodge into its right eye.

"Look out!" Hunk warned, "He's firing his lasers!"

We moved around the stage supposedly dodging its fire as a siren noise came from the fake monster.

The audience had become very engaged in our performance, even little children looked up in shock and clung to their parent's hands.

All Paladins, began to engage the monster by attacking it with their perspective weapons and taking it out. We struck the same pose again as we formed formation.

"Spread the word!" Coran yelled, "The Voltron Coalition needs you!"

"I would like to join the Voltron Coalition!" One of the aliens yelled back. The rest of the audience began to clap and cheer with their fists in the air. We waved goodbye and walked behind stage, Coran holding the curtain open for us.

"At least, the crowd stayed until the end." Pidge said to Hunk.

"Mm-hmm." Hunk responded removing his helmet.

"That actually went really well." Shiro commented.

"Yeah, I got to commend you for that." I said with a smile.

Coran placed a hand on the small of my back, "Yeah, you're trending galaxy-wide! I mean, you're a four-quadrant hit! Your plus sevens are plus ten! But that's just the beginning!" He finished cheering with an eye slightly twitching.

"You sure you're okay, Coran?" I asked examining his face.

"Never better." He answered laughing, slapping Shiro on the back, "Now, we need to start heading to the next show. I have set everything up for us, you all are going to be skating on ice."

"Wait, what?" Hunk asked, his eyes going wide.

"You heard me big guy. You Paladins are going to be stars!"

"But I don't know how to ice skate, Coran." Hunk retaliated.

Coran moved quickly to stand behind him and placed his hands on his shoulders, "Relax, no matter what, the crowd is going to love you. I'll make sure of it."

The castle approached a planet with an odd shape, instead of being round like countless others, this one was stretched out vertically and twisted on its axis. Coran quickly landed the ship and ushered us out and into a big lounge.

"This is our first stadium," Coran said excitedly while we sat around looking at him, "So let's get out there and really win some hearts and minds today!" Just when he finished a long and thin looking alien walked in with a head set on his head, he began to talk to Coran in a language we could not comprehend, but Coran seemed to understand perfectly. "All right, you heard Bii-Boh-Bi. Five doboshes. Let's go! Places!"

We stood up and followed Bii-Boh-Bi to a wide obscured tunnel that would lead to the center of the stadium and onto the ice. I began to feel a bit nervous as it had been a while since I ice skated. The last time I did was back on my home planet at the age of six.

I placed my helmet on to hide my distress from the others and avoid transmitting my feelings to them, it was obvious they were nervous too. The palms of my hands began to sweat inside my gloves and a cold drop trailed down my neck. As we got closer to the exit of the tunnel, we could see the colorful lights that illuminated the stadium. People cheered loudly, excited for the show to start.

Coran's voice broke me out of my thoughts, "Hello, Bii-bohs and Boh-biis! Tonight, the Paladins of Voltron take on Zarkon on ice!"

Bii-Boh-Bi translated for the audience what Coran said; the only thing I got from his line was Voltron, Zarkon, and Haggar. Two Bii-bohs came out dressed as them waving at the audience trying to look malignant, but their appearance just made them look a bit adorable.

"If only Zarkon and Haggar look liked that, it would have made fighting them a bit more bearable." I commented with a smile, Allura nodded her head with a slight grin agreeing with me.

"It is I, the greatest force of evil this universe has ever seen!" Bii-boh Zarkon exclaimed rising his slender hands in the air.

I scuffled a laugh at the Bii-boh trying to make his voice deeper.

"Sire, soon, you will defeat the Paladins, and Voltron will be yours." Boh-bii Haggar said; her voice impressed me, she actually sounded like her.

"Not if I have to something to say about it!" Hunk yelled skating onto the arena. He held his Bayard cannon in his hands aiming it at the fake Zarkon and Haggar with a look of determination. The people cheered wildly. "Take that Zarkon!" Hunk shouted, but he slipped causing his Bayard to disappear from his hands and fall flat on his back; the audience laughed.

"Look, its Pidge!" Coran yelled.

She came out from the side, "Don't worry, Hunk. I got your back!"

"She'll use her math and calculations to defeat Zarkon!" Coran narrated, Bii-Boh-Bi second him. Pidge skated towards them when suddenly smoke appeared in front of her, when she reappeared, she was wrapped tightly in a pink ribbon and fell to the ground.

"Oh, no! The witch's magic has counteracted Pidge's math!" Coran yelled in the microphone, "What are they going to do?"

Bii-Boh-Bi pressed a button on his panel and bright white lights brightened the stadium with loud string music, giving Shiro, Allura, Lance, and I our cue to skate onto stage. I concentrated all my will power into not slipping following Allura's lead and coming to a stop beside her; the stadium spotlight flashed down on us, I was thankful for my helmet that prevented me from going blind.

"We need teamwork!' Shiro exclaimed, "The only way to defeat Zarkon is with Voltron!" He extended his arms out toward the sky and we mirrored him by posing in opposite directions; Pidge and Hunk joined us quickly in formation.

Bii-Bohs came onto stage and provided us with cardboard heads of the lions, according to each pilot. They gave me a pair of golden wings that I strapped on to my back. Allura and Hunk placed the lion heads on their own and kneeled down on all fours while Pidge and Lance placed them on their hands. Finally, Shiro climbed onto Hunk's and Allura's backs and placed a giant head of Voltron over his body while I clung to his back.

"Does anybody feel kinda stupid right now?" Hunk asked; his voice muffled by the lion head.

"Shut up, Hunk!" Lance shushed him, "They're lovin' us."

"Uh, my hands are slipping a bit." I growled trying to get my arms all around Shiro's broad chest.

"Just hang on a bit longer." Shiro whispered.

Allura and Hunk began to crawl closer to the fake Zarkon and witch; their movement almost made me fall so I quickly wrapped my legs around Shiro's waist like a backpack. Loud horn noises came from the heads of the Green and Red lions, spitting confetti from their mouths simulating the laser cannons.

"I'll get you next time!" Bii-Boh Zarkon yelled; him and the witch were dragged off of stage by an invisible string, the crowd broke into a hysteria of applauses and cheers.

Hunk and Allura began to move once again but this time toward the edge of the stage. Once we had reached the exit tunnel, Shiro, Pidge, and Lance jumped off their backs.

"You can let go now, Taylin." Shiro said with amusement; he took off the Voltron head and looked back at me.

"Nah, I'm fine back here." I said with a smirk and placed a kiss on his cheek.

After that show's success, I lost track of how many we performed. It was and endless cycle of the same thing over and over again, we pretty much had everything down to memory. Coran would add a few tweaks to each one to make them just a little different. His ambition to make us intergalactic stars kind of scared me, it just did not seem like Coran.

We had finished yet another show when we walked in to the lounge and threw the cardboard parts of Voltron to the side taking off our helmets.

"How many of these appearances do we have to put on?" Pidge asked annoyed.

"I know they seem humiliating, but Coran's ideas are working." Shiro answered, "Every performance draws more people to the cause."

"Exactly." Lance added, "All that stuff." He was by the entrance with a bunch of Boh-biis fanning over him while he signed autographs; out of all of us, he was the one who enjoyed this the most.

"I never thought I'll get into the performance business." I said crossing my arms, "I always saw myself differently." Shiro placed a hand on my shoulder trying to cheer me up.

Coran pushed the females out of the door entrance, "Okay, all right, let's go, come on! We've got business to discuss!" Lance frowned with the pad still in hand; Coran turned around after closing the door on them, "First of all, great job. Tonight, was a big success. Now, we're back on track, better than ever! There's no doubt about it, you're stars. But, to go supernova, you gotta push it even further."

"A super nova is an exploding star." Pidge butted in bored.

"And what's brighter than that?" Coran asked as he rushed over getting close to her face; she leaned back in her seat frightened, "Here's the deal. I've worked up very specific personas for each of you. This is gonna help the audience connect on a much deeper level with each team member." He turned towards the rest of us, "There's Lover Boy Lance."

"Lover Boy Lance?" Lance said in thought as a smile slowly grew on his features, "Its perfect because it's true."

"You're Science-Wiz Pidge." Coran continued popping out right behind her, "Whoa! Look out, big brain!"

"We've got Lone Wolf Keith." He pointed at Allura, "That's you cause you're Keith. And I'm thinking your catchphrase could be like a howl." Allura growled, crossed her arms lowering her head annoyed. "Well, that's more of a growl, but you'll keep working on it."

Coran turned to look at the Yellow Paladin, "Hunk, from now on, you'll be Humorous Hunk."

Coran later came to me with a wide smirk and pulled me up to my feet, "You my dear, will be the Beautiful Paladin Queen." He spun me around a couple of times before he let me go and I stumbled back to my seat.

"And last but not least, Shiro the Hero!" Coran exclaimed getting down on his knees looking up at my mate with praise. He quickly blurred to his side and lifted one of his arms flexing it; Shiro looked down at Coran annoyed pulling his arm away from him.

After the meeting, we headed back to the castle to rest for the day after the show. It did not seem like a lot, but the shows were actually dragging me down. All my energy was concentrated on not falling over on the ice and embarrassing myself in front of thousands of viewers. Poor Hunk, Coran had actually made him the laughing stock, I wonder what he had in stored for him in the next shows.

I arrived at my room and change out of my Paladin armor throwing it off to the side on a nearby chair. I took a relaxing shower and forgot about everything that had been going on for just a moment. I changed into my sleeping shorts and shirt when a loud knock on my door startled me just when I was about to climb into bed to take a nap. I groaned and went to open my door to reveal Coran with a wide smile.

"Can I help you with something, Coran?"

"Put some shoes on and meet me in the training room."

I looked at him blankly not making any move to fetch them, so Coran barged into my room, grabbed some black flats from my closet before coming to me and pulling me out of my chambers.

"Hey! Coran!" I protested, "What's so important that you had to disturb my down time?!"

"Come on, come one, move along. No need to shout." He answered pushing against my back when I refused to move. Seeing as that was not working, he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.

"Coran! Put me down this instant!" I yelled as he rushed down the hall, "I will throw you in a black hole if that's what it takes for you to set me down!" I don't know how he did it, but we were in front of the training deck doors in a flash. He walked in closing the doors behind him and finally setting me down a couple feet away from the entrance. He quickly pulled away from me before I could grab him and hurl his body across the room.

I huffed and crossed my arms trying to control my temper to avoid having the fire element manifest, "Okay, Coran, you got me here. What do you want?"

"Well, now that we are all calm-"

"Calm…" I scoffed rolling my eyes.

"I would like you to meet someone." He pointed behind me and I froze, in my anger I had not noticed there was someone else in the room. I turned around slowly to see a young male alien with pale white skin, silver short cropped hair, bright green wide eyes, and perfectly outlined faded peach lips. He wore a grey shirt and baggy black pants; he looked like he was ready to go for a run.

"I, uh… um, Coran? You did not tell me we had visitors." I said turning to look at him.

Coran came forth and motioned to the alien, "This is Magnus, he is here to help train you for the show."

"Train me?" I asked confused.

"The audience wants to see more of you and I want to show you off. You can't be the beautiful Taylin if you are always hiding behind Shiro. We need to bring you out of the shadows and expose that pretty face of yours." Coran answered squishing my cheeks together with one hand.

I pushed his hand away and hissed under my breath, "Coran, I am not exactly wearing something appropriate."

"None-sense." He brushed my comment off, "You wear that around Shiro all the time."

I glared at him, if I could shoot fire from my eyes, Coran would have been incinerated by now. What I wore around Shiro was none of his business, "How do you… You know what, never mind."

Magnus came to stand in front of us as we had left him out of the conversation, "It very nice to meet you, Queen Fireheart." He extended his hand to me and I took it giving him a small smile.

"It's nice to meet you too, Magnus." I said, "What exactly are you here to train me for?"

"Coran requested me to teach a musical skating number for the show."

I once again glared at Coran, "I did not agree to any of this and besides, the training room is not an ice skating ring. Where do you suppose we train? Huh?" I got closer to Coran with my arms still crossed with a frown on my face.

"Well, um." Magnus interrupted our stare down, "We were hoping- uh, I was hoping you could freeze the training deck floor and use it as a skating ring for your practice."

"Come on Taylin. The crowd will love you." Coran persuaded.

"I'm not looking for fame, Coran. I'm far from wanting any type of attention." I said not budging.

Coran resorted to be the most annoying person in the galaxy by coming up to me and begging by saying please over and over. He even got down on his knees with his hands clasp together with watery pleading eyes. It went on for almost ten doboshes before I finally gave in not wanting to hear his voice anymore and to save him the embarrassment in front of Magnus. What he must think of us Paladins and specially Coran intrigued me.

"Fine, fine, please stop begging and get up." I whined and pulled him to a standing position by grabbing ahold of his collar.

"Yes! Let's get started!" Coran exclaimed.

I took a few steps back from them and concentrated on summoning the cold element to my hands. A cold shiver ran throughout my body, it felt like ice coursing in my veins. It was almost as if someone had injected me with cold water and it slowly ran in my inner system. A cold prickly feeling rouse to my arms brining goosebumps to the surface. It continued to do so until the cold feeling stopped in my hands and finally spread to the tips of my fingers. A soft white glow illuminated my skin allowing me to see the shadow of my bones and veins. I crouched down and pressed my hands to the floor letting go of the elemental power. Ice began to emanate from my hands and spread rapidly through the room until the whole training deck floor was frozen solid. Magnus looked all around him, amazed with a wide grin on his face, "This is astonishing."

"I'll go get your ice skating shoes." Coran said moving rapidly only to fall face down and slide to the edge of the room. I let out a chuckle as he struggled to get up and get back to us with skating shoes in hand. A couple of falls later, he finally handed them to me and I placed them on being careful not to fall myself.

I turned around to face Magnus, who had already placed his skating shoes on and was stretching his arms up in the air, "Alright, what is the first step?"

He looked up at me moving around the ice with ease almost like he was flying, his arms swayed with his movements gracefully. He continued to skate around in a dance until he came to a stop in front of me taking a bow. I clapped, "Wow, you are really good."

"Thanks, I been doing this since I was little." He said rubbing his neck with his right hand.

"So, what's next?" I asked.

He came closer presenting his left hand to me, "May I?"

I looked at him for a few ticks until I sighed uncrossing my arms and placed my left in his. "I don't plan to make this very complicated, but I do want it to look amazing. You are going to look like you been skating all your life."

"If this is clearly a partnered dance, who is going to be my dance partner?"

"I am." He said with a smile, "Now, give me your right hand and place your left on my shoulder." I did as I was told, placing my hands in the proper position, Magnus placed his right hand on my waist and began to sway us in small circles. "You're going to let go of my shoulder and I'm going to twirl you twice." I let go and he spun me around quickly, before I knew it, my hand was back on his shoulder. "That's it, you're doing it." I gave him a smile and we continued to practice does two steps skating all around the room.

"What comes next?" I asked.

"You are going to push of me, just make sure you are still facing me and move your hands out from the center of your body shaking them to the sides." He instructed.

I honestly felt kind of silly doing does movements, but I followed his lead without question, not wanting to have Coran nag me again.

"Great! Now, face the front and pump your right fist in the air while spinning in place."

"What kind of music goes with this dance?" I asked confused.

"You'll find out soon." Magnus said with a smile and extended a hand to me, "Come back to me. I'm going to lift you in the air and spin you around. Just let it happen and keep your body relaxed. Don't become rigid."

I gave a sighed slouching my shoulders and skated towards him, swiftly jumping into his arms. Magnus lifted me up in the air with both his hands and circled around the room three times before setting me down but still kept a tight hold on my left hand. I just began to mimic his moves and soon we were dancing in unison. He would make a few pointers here and there, adjusting my limbs in the proper position, but other than that, the dance was pretty simple, and it repeated itself about four times until he took hold of my waist and dipped me to the side.

"Okay, Coran." He called out, "Turn on the music!"

Coran appeared on the upper level of the training room and pressed a few buttons; a really upbeat music began to play. Magnus came to me and we began to repeat the dance along with the music, in the middle of our routine, the beat became faster and more electric. When we finished, I was really out of breath and rested my hands on my knees.

"You did really good." Magnus complimented.

"Thanks." I managed to seethe out.

"I think were done here, you are ready for tomorrow's show."

I nodded my head and he gave me a smile with a slight bow of his head making his way out of the room, "I'll be seeing you."

Coran appeared out of the blue making me jump a little, "I hope your happy Coran. If you don't have anything else for me, I'll be going back to my room where a should have never left."

"Just something really quick." He blocked my path to the exit and pulled something out behind his back, "Here is your costume for the performance."

Coran placed it in my hands and I extended it out, not that there was much to extend, "What is this Coran? There is no way I'll be wearing this even around the corner." It was a short tight white dress that had a mini ruffled skirt at the hem and the chest had a blue glowing insignia of Voltron outlined with gold. It waist was adorned with a belt similar to the one of my Paladin armor.

"You're going to have to wear it." Coran said crossing his arms and turning his head away slightly in defiance.

"This thing won't even cover an inch of my lower body." I protested.

"Just remember your doing this for the coalition." He reminded touching my nose with his finger, "Your perforce will attract a big crowed, you're going to be a star." He was suddenly at my side with an arm over my shoulders, extending his other hand toward the ceiling.

I growled and pushed him off me, "There is no arguing with you." I slipped of the skating shoes and began to walk barefoot on the frozen floor. The doors opened for me at my presence. I was about to walk out when I had an idea and turned around to face Coran with a smirk. I summoned a flame to my hand and launched it to the center of the training deck floor. The fire extended throughout the whole room consuming the ice in the process rapidly, "Have fun cleaning that up." I chuckled and waved, letting the doors close behind me.

Anxiety was eating at me just a few vargas away from beginning the show, I did not want to go through with the performance. Why Coran had changed how the show was running escaped me. If anybody asked me, I thought it was working fine; if it isn't broken, don't fix it.

I walked to White's hangar and stopped at the entrance looking up at her as she sat on her hind legs. I lost track of time standing there thinking; Storm's voice startled me.

 _"What is the matter?"_

I turned to look at him as he made his way to me from the side of the hangar, _"What are you doing in here?"_

 _"I came here to find some peace, in other words, get away from Coran."_ He responded coming to a stop beside me.

 _"It seems that everyone is trying to get away from him. He has been acting strange ever since the show we had at the hospital… I just can't place my finger on it."_

Storm inspected me with his deep gaze, _"So, what are you doing here?"_

 _"I honestly don't know."_ I said with a sigh.

 _"You should start heading out to the prepping room, the show will start in a two vargas."_

I looked up at him, _"I don't want to continue with the shows. I understand that getting people to join the coalition is vital to our cause, but I think we should be out there helping people instead of performing. We were doing so much back on Olkarion, healing people brought a satisfaction to my heart, but now… I just can't continue with this. It's stupid."_ I side stepped Storm to make my way to my lion. She stood up and opened her mouth for me letting me into the cockpit. The clicking sound behind me told me Storm trailed behind me. I placed my hands on my controls making White stand on all fours.

 _"Where are we going?"_ Storm asked.

 _"To provide aid to those in need."_

I pushed my handles forward moving White into the launching platform.

 _"Is this what your heart is telling you to do?"_ His question made me stop the launch.

I took a few ticks before answering, _"My mind is with those who need help in this twisted universe… freeing them from Galra oppression. Perhaps we can meet with the Blade of Marmora and see in what we can assist."_

 _"But your heart?"_

 _"My heart…"_ I hesitated before answering, _"Is with my fellow Paladins."_

 _"If you leave, how do you think they will feel?"_

I stared out of my lion, watching the end of the tunnel, listening to the deep breaths of Storm's lungs. I growled and turned White around setting her down on her platform once again.

 _"That's my girl."_ Storm commented with content.

I hurried out of the hangar, running in the hallways until I reached my room and grabbed the dress Coran had given me off the bed where it had been discarded. I exited the castle and hurried inside the prepping room to change, adjust my makeup and hair. I removed my crown and placed the head band with white cat ears upon my head and clicked on the golden wings that went with the outfit. On my way out, I grabbed my white skating shoes and ran to the exit tunnel that would lead into the stadium. Magnus and other people, who looked similar to him, turned around to look at me. He gave a sigh of relief when he saw me, "I thought you weren't going to show."

I looked at him with a bit of guilt, "Trust me, I almost didn't."

I looked closer to what Magnus was wearing and noticed he wore a similar attire to that of the Black Paladin's armor. The rest of the other dancers had on the other colors of Voltron. Magnus's attire also consisted of Red symmetrical wings symbolizing the Black Lion's.

"Coran really out did himself." I commented.

"Yeah, I feel really awesome in this." Magnus said with wide smile.

I looked around the tunnel, but the others seemed to be missing, "Where are the other Paladins?"

"They will be joining the show after our performance." He answered, "They will be entering from the side of the ice ring."

I covered my eyes and groaned, "Oh, this is going to be so embarrassing. Why'd I let Coran talk me into this escapes me."

I felt someone place a hand on my shoulder, "Hey, you did a really good job during our practice. You'll be fine, I promise not to let you fall."

I lowered my hands to look at him, his skin looked more translucent up close, "The things I do for the sake of defending the universe."

"Well, that has to say a lot about you. You care about your team mates and the people around you. I admire you for that."

"Thanks." I said and smiled.

Coran's voice came from behind, we turned to see him running and stop almost hitting me in the process, "Towards the end of your performance there are torches at the edge the skating ring, I want you to turn them on. Make it big, something worth remembering!" He said lifting his hands in the air.

"Alright." I said, looking at him skeptically.

"You're on in five doboshes." He said continuing on his path and exiting the tunnel toward the lights control panel.

"Is he always that weird?" Magnus asked.

"Coran is weird in his own way, I think it might have been from spending too much time in a sleeping pod."

"Mm-hm." He looked at Coran disappear with his arms crossed.

"I might just let a fireball slip in his direction." I joked with a laugh.

Magnus joined me, "There's a thought."

Coran's voice, over the microphone, broke us out of our joyful conversation. My stomach dropped, and my hands became sweaty in an instant. I took a deep breath closing my eyes and reminded myself I was doing this for my team and the good of the coalition. Everyone had a role to play, this was mine.

The lights of the stadium dimmed giving us our cue to exit out of the side tunnel and take our placed in the middle of the skating ring. Chatter came from all around us as people waited to see what would happen; someone in the crowd screamed 'Voltron' followed by cheering. Magnus took my hand and gave it a slight squeeze reassuring me that everything would be fine. In a way he had a point, I had fought in countless battles and taken down Galra battle cruisers, this was nothing compared to any of those things.

That single thought is what brought confidence into my heart, I pushed all fear that had gathered inside my heart and looked forward with a new-found determination. The music began to play in a slow tone, Magnus held onto my waist as the spotlight fell upon us and we began to sway, moving in circles like in our practice. The other dancers created a bigger circle enclosing us inside, extending their arms towards the sky and spinning in small rings in place. The music suddenly cut off and the lights turned off, Magnus held me at arm's length and the music came back louder than before in its upbeat rhythm. We pushed off each other and began to skate in opposite directions. I paid attention to each and every one of his moves to move in sync. My body was stiff making me look more robotic than natural, but after a few ticks, I let my body just flow along with the beat and even began to move my head side to side. We faced forward moving our hips left and right quickly and pumping our fists in the air. The beat once again calmed itself and we glided towards each other, meeting halfway, to repeat the first few steps. Magnus let go of my right hand and spun me around him. The colorful lights that shined upon the hundreds faces present, passed by in blurs before my eyes. He stopped spinning me after about four turns and lifted me up in the air, I extended my libs out feeling free as a Drako in the sky. I noticed the red wings on Magnus begin to glow and when I looked slightly behind me, my own did the same, igniting in an identical color as the symbol on my chest.

I pushed off Magnus and began to make small leaps spinning around on my axis and summoned flames to hands; the others made the circle bigger giving me space. I let two fireballs fly manipulating them and making them soar rapidly in different directions through the stadium. The people began to cheer louder clapping their hands at the spectacle. I summoned two more and brought them together, crashing all four into each other and controlled them until in the middle of the arena, the insignia of Voltron burned with intensity. I held it in place for a few ticks before breaking it a part back into four and sending them flying to each of the four corners of the ice ringing igniting the torches Coran had mentioned. The fire extended towards the sky in orange and yellow columns, expanding up hastily until the music ended, extinguishing them. The claps and screams of the audience sounded like the fall of a great waterfall. We took a bow and disappeared back into the side tunnel.

Magnus and I said farewell, and I thanks him for having the patience to teach me. The other Paladins took the stage and performed. I began to make my way back to the prep room and encountered a few fans that wanted my attention. Most of them were of the male species; they began to overwhelm me calling my name from every angle and blocking the path to my exit. I tried to push my way through, but once I took a step, they followed alongside me; I had no idea how Lance could put up with this. I was about to call Storm and have him frighten the people away when my savior came along in black and white shining armor. Shiro grabbed me by the waist brining me close to his side, "Please make way for us. Coming through." Shiro said with authority; they seemed listen to him and moved to the sides letting us through without more bickering.

I looked up at Shiro with a thankful look and smiled at him, "Thanks, I was about to push them aside with my powers or call Storm to eat them."

Shiro chuckled, "I don't think that would help our coalition." He glanced down at me looking me over from head to toe, "You were breaking hearts with that dress, plus your performance really left everyone in awe. When did you practice for this?"

"Coran came to me last night and kidnapped me from my room. He annoyingly begged me to practice the dance with Magnus, I had no choice but to give in or he would have never stopped talking."

"Magnus?" Shiro asked raising an eyebrow.

"He was the one that dance with me during the performance." I explained, and added with a hint of a smile, "Nice guy, had to put up with my whining and Coran."

"Yeah, he sounds nice." Shiro said plainly.

I let out a laugh after a few ticks seeing his expression had become serious, "Are you jealous?"

Shiro, seeing my smile, could not help but to be tainted by it and one slowly grew on his features, "A little."

I slapped a hand to his chest, "No need for that. You are the only one for me."

"I'm glad to hear that."

Many more shows followed soon after, Coran wanted to have me perform solo again, but I told him if he did not stop bothering me, then I would make true to my promise, after that, he did not dwell on the idea but continued to book shows in different planets. We had moved on from the ice skating shows and would often appear as Voltron taking down holograms of old foes like the one we faced on Arius.

We met in the castle's lounge room to discuss our progress, Coran brought a map of the galaxies up on screen.

"Guys, the recruitment rallies are amazing." Coran stated with excitement, "Look at all the green on this map!"

"We certainly had our doubts at first, but I have to admit, Coran, your plan is actually working." Allura praised from beside me.

"Why, thank you, Keith!" He said with a weird smile, "I like to keep you in character. And it's only gonna get better with a few improvements."

"More improvements?" Pidge whined.

"Please, no more farts." Hunk pleaded tiredly.

Coran turned, he had red and dark circles under his eyes to what I assumed were from lack of sleep, "Hear me out. First, its time Voltron start to talk. Everyone's dying to hear what the big guy sounds like. Next, we'll introduce new weapons and new outfits for each of you. Oh, and I'm going to need you Taylin, to do another dance on ice. We practically had male aliens running up to sign up for the coalition after that one master piece." He kissed his fingers with a loud smacking sound.

Shiro, not liking the idea of having me perform, pushed off the wall and came to stand beside me, "Coran, what are you talking about? We only have one more show. After the big intergalactic broadcast, we're done."

"What are you talking about?!" Coran retaliated angrily, "We're just getting started here!" He rushed in rage towards Shiro yelling at his face, "We can't stop now!"

"Uh, Coran, you feelin' okay?" Hunk asked worriedly, seeing as he had started breathing heavily like a mad Drako.

"Yeah, you seem extra twitchy." Lance pointed out.

I stood up from my seat having enough of this conversation, "Coran, we must go back to saving the universe from Galra hands. We are not show stars, we are warriors meant be fighting back. A true warrior does not need recognition, it is the sole duty alone that gives us the satisfaction to keep going."

"We are fighting the Galra!" He shouted back at me, "Six nights a week and twice on the astral conflux!"

I was about to retaliate when Bii-Boh-Bi came in and said something to Coran, but he was so mad, Coran screamed at him too, "I don't care if the new laser show is here! What have I told you about walkin' in when I'm talking to the talent?"

Bii-Boh-Bi walked out with his head hugged low and closed the door behind him. Coran had gone too far, he was screaming at everyone, it was getting in my nerves. I extended one of my hands sending an invisible force that hurled him back, smacking him onto the screen; the monitor flickered at the force of the impact. Coran looked at me wide eyed, but still had the that crazy tint written all over his face; the others gasped.

"That's enough Coran." I said sternly, "We will only do one more show and then we are done."

Coran got up and continued his rant, "You're a bunch of quitters! Quitters! I'm a visionary! I have thoughts, ideas! I don't need you anyway! I'll rewrite the show! Get rid of the whole lot of ya! Replace you with new Paladins! And the show will be better than ever before!" He walked out fuming, closing the door behind him, but after a tick he came back, "Except you Shiro. I'll never get rid of you. You're our most popular character. But the rest of you will never work in show business again!" Coran shut the door behind him once again only to come back in to yell some more, "And you." He said pointing at me, "I'll find a way to get you back in that ice skating ring even if it's the last things I do! I am not losing the male audience!" He closed the door behind him loudly, half expecting for him to come back, but this time he left.

I crossed my arms looking at the door, "Pfft, goof luck with that."

We stood by the exit of the tunnel, waiting for the show to begin, in full Paladin armor.

"All right, remember, guys, this is being broadcasted galaxy-wide." Shiro said turning to look at us over his shoulder, "It's the final piece in our plan. So, let's make our last appearance our best appearance."

"I'm concerned about Coran." Allura said with a frown.

Hunk scoffed, "He was getting crazy. He'll figure that soon enough."

Bii-Boh-Bi appeared from behind Allura and mentioned that we would be getting on stage shortly.

"I have no idea what Bii-Boh-Bi is saying." Lance stated.

"I don't think anyone does." I said with a chuckle, "I just use his hand gestures to figure out what he wants to say."

We began the show, as usual, punching Galra sentries and shooting them down with our Bayards. I took a couple of them down using a burning arrow creating a big blast in the middle of the dirt arena. That part of the show ended, as we took our spots in formation, on X's marked on the floor; I stood behind Shiro with my bow tightly in hand.

A loud rumbling nose broke throughout the arena causing the people to scuffle in fright and anticipation of what would come next.

"Did you hear that rumbling?" Shiro asked; saying his line.

"According to my thermal calculations." Pidge said, "There's only one thing that can cause a sound like that. A Galra robeast!" She posed after finishing her line.

"Zarkon has sent a robeast to try and destroy us and the planet!" Lance stated.

"Don't worry about a thing! We'll show this beast who's boss!" I said lifting my bow in the air; the audience cheered loudly.

"Everyone, we need to form Voltron!" Shiro yelled.

The lights of the arena turned off giving us some time to get our lions from behind the main stage and form Voltron. We landed it in the middle of the arena, all lights on us, "I am here to defend the universe." A deep voice said; supposedly being the voice of Voltron.

A loud rumbling came from our right, "What was that?" Voltron asked.

A Swathian Meerakeet hologram appeared; this one seemed to be different, as his heavy steps actually caused dust particles to fly.

"Wow, Bii-Boh-Bi has really upped his effects game." Pidge commented.

I looked at the creature before us, watching its every move, it did not seem computerized, "Something is wrong." Just then two red lasers shot out of the creature's head and it became agitated growling loudly. The music came on along with the colorful spotlights causing the creature to look in different directions and roar.

The Meerakeet chased after a spotlight moving closer to the audience, it was about to pounce on them when we quickly moved to grab its tail and threw it back inside the arena. We spun it around tossing it up in the air, but it shot back at us it with yellow sonic waves causing an explosion beside us.

"I don't remember rehearsing this." Allura said.

I pushed out my mind toward the creature and gasped when I figured out it was alive, "Because this is real. The creature is real!" The others gasped as well at the revelation.

"Paladins, that monster you're fighting onstage is real!" Coran's frantic voice sounded in our cockpits, "I know because I brought it!"

"Figures." I grumbled.

"A brain worm talked me into it!" Coran yelled, "I'll explain later!... that bit."

"Wait, that's not just really great special effects?" Hunk asked as the creature roared at us.

"No, Hunk, this is very real." I answered.

"Pidge, put up the shield!" Shiro ordered when the Meerakeet came raging towards us. It pushed us back at the force of the impact and Lance shot at it from the side, but it did no damage.

"The lasers aren't working." Pidge said.

"That thing took a direct hit, and we barely did any damage!" Lance added.

"I've got an idea." Shiro said, "We can use the lights from the hover screen to lure the monster away from the crowd."

"I've got this." Allura said.

"Right there with you!" I moved Voltron backward giving Allura enough space to kick the screen; the creature followed after it without hesitation.

"Nice job, Keith!" Hunk cheered; a growl came from Allura's comm.

Back in the castle, everyone stood around Coran while he kneeled in the middle of Allura's platform, he looked guiltier than I ever seen him.

"I'm so sorry, guys." Coran apologized, "I shouldn't have trusted that strange Unilu. Looking back, it seems like such an obviously bad decision."

"Yeah, Worm pills? Gross!" Lance exclaimed making a ganging sound.

"I didn't mean to take us this far off mission." Coran added finally raising his gaze.

"Well, believe it or not, the plan worked." Shiro said brining up a hologram of the galaxies, "Our coalition is bigger than ever."

"What? Really?" Coran quickly stood up.

Bii-Boh-Bi suddenly appeared behind Coran and he turned around to scream at him, "What have I told you about interrupting when I'm speaking to the talent?!"

We hid behind Shiro from his outburst; I peeked over his shoulder not wanting Coran to scream at me again. Some things were just a part of Coran, with or without creepy space worms.

* * *

Hey guys!

Sorry about the wait, I took a short trip away from my regular life. Pfft short trip lol, it was a week. Anyways I hope you all caught up with season 7, it was one of the most amazing seasons.

Thanks for all the love and support, and also don't forget to check out Oracle of The Forgotten.

Also, I left the music that Tay was dancing to, to your imagination. If you guys want to know what I imagined her dancing to, check the link below.

watch?v=_d6zO2WSVDY


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

 **Begin the Blitz**

We jumped right back into action when the shows were finally over. We needed to get back to defending the universe and figure out a way to take down Zarkon along with his empire. The tyrant had become crueler, inflicting his iron fist harsher on innocent people. Lotor was still missing, no one had heard from him since we last saw him getting attacked by Galra forces.

I stood next to Shiro, on the main control platform, watching the main screen that projected Kolivan and Keith. I was really glad to see him after a few movements; he had been really busy with tasks assigned directly from the leader of The Blade of Marmora.

"Entire Galra fleets have been mobilized." Kolivan informed, "Zarkon seems to be out looking for Lotor."

"It's only a matter of time before he gets the empire back in order." Shiro stated.

"We are going to need to mobilize as soon as possible." I added, "Hitting key points in the Galra empire can help weaken their forces. We just need to figure out where they are."

"Agreed." Shiro said, "Now is the time to assemble the coalition that Voltron has been building. With intelligence gathered by the Blades and coalition observers, combined with Pidge's Galra tracking software, we now have a detailed map of the Galra Empire." Different places of the galaxy map highlighted in blue, "I've identified an intermittent line of coalition planets that runs through the territory. If you look closely, there's only one Galra-occupied planet left on that line." A purple dot highlighted the area.

"Naxzela." Allura said.

"We can capture Naxzela, we can strengthen the chain of planet freed from Galra rule in that sector." I added, "Then use that portion to cut inflow of Galra troops from central command and use it to take them out."

"Wow!" Pidge exclaimed, "We could take back a third of the Galra Empire in one fell swoop."

"Do we have a plan?" Hunk asked.

"We attack several locations across the region, at once." Shiro continued explaining, "First, we'll have to cut off communications between the region and Galra central command by striking the satellite relay station orbiting Vantax Five."

"Pidge and I can handle that." Hunk stated giving him a thumbs up.

"The Blades have informed us of two Galra defense systems coming online called Zaiforge cannons." Shiro said, a hologram of two cannons appeared before us. "Now these cannons can strike any target within our combat theater. The first, in high-orbit around the planet Teq, will be attacked by coalition air forces led by Matt and Captain Olia. Kolivan will lead a Marmoran strike team against the second cannon, located on the surface of Senfama, which is vulnerable to a covert ground attack. We intend to take control of these cannons and use Zarkon's own firepower against him. Once the coalition forces and Blades neutralize these targets, Galra defenses will be weakened, allowing us to take down the remaining Galra-occupied planets in this area. While our forces are taking control of the planets, Naxzela will already be under attack."

"By whom?" Allura asked.

"Us." I answered, "Voltron."

Lance appeared behind Pidge and Hunk with a smirk, wrapping his arms around their shoulders, "Aw yeah! Team Voltron's gonna drop in Naxzela, form Hunk's giant laser cannon, and be all like, 'Pow! Pow! Pow!' Easy-peasy."

"Unfortunately, not that easy." Shiro said, bursting Lance's bubble, "Naxzela will be tough. Its heavily fortified with Galra. Our attack must be swift enough to neutralize the Galra forces before they have time to contact Galra Headquarters. Cause', if they call for reinforcements, we'll be caught in a fight on two fronts."

"If we actually pull this off, the coalition will own a big chuck of the Galra Empire." I said with a wide smile.

"It will be a massive Victory." Kolivan stated.

"And inspire a whole new wave of rebellions." Allura added.

"There's no time to waste." Shiro said.

"Let's go then." I said moving towards the exit, "We need to rally up the troops."

Everyone began to mobilize getting into their Paladin armors and leaving the castle in our lions to head to coalition planets. Storm and I headed to Trinder to visit our friend Lanex and gather as many warriors as we could, to join us in this stand against Zarkon.

The Trinderians looked up at the White Lion as we landed near their main village, they cheered and lifted their hands in the air as we disembarked. Through the crowd of people, Lanex pushed his way to the front alongside his father, he gave me the widest of smiles; his teeth white as the snow underneath or feet. He came to me and gave me a bone crushing hug, "It's so nice to see you, Taylin. You have to come visit us more often."

"It's very nice to see you as well." I said, "But it's not leisure that has brought me here, rather, we are mounting an attack of The Galra Empire. One that will severely weaken their forces, taking back at least a forth of their territory."

"Incredible." Lanex's father breathed.

"I came here for the sole purpose of gathering strong warriors willing to fight for our cause and join up with the coalition we have created." I moved to stand closer to the gathering, "Please, help us end this conflict and establish ever lasting peace throughout the galaxy. We have lived under Zarkon's tyranny for far too long. It is time for our children to be free, to know the real meaning of life and taste the sweet nectar of victory."

"We will support your cause." Lanex's father spoke up, "We want to see other planets freed like you help free ours. Our loyalty is with you and Voltron." The villagers began to cheer and raise their hands stating they wanted to join the fight.

"Your words move me." I said with a smile, "We need to get moving as soon as possible. Other races have already started gathering with the help of the other Paladins."

"I will come with you." Lanex said, "My father can rally the Trinderian warriors while I represent my people in the resistance."

 _"Are you ready for this, young one?"_ Storm asked him.

"As ready as I can be. I decided to leave all my fear aside and train to be a true warrior." Lanex answered. He had a look of determination and strength. Lanex was no longer that boy I met so long ago, afraid of the beasts that roamed the planet. He had grown and established himself as his father's right hand leading his people like a true leader. Lanex was also a part of my new mission of restoring the Shadow Warriors, it seemed that I had chosen correctly. The outer shells of insecurity had faded away to reveal something greater than he ever thought he could be.

"Let's go then." I said waving him on, "We need to get back to the others on Olkarion."

We boarded the White Lion and set a course to The Castle of Lions, moving swiftly though the void of space. Soon, Olkarion was before us and we landed the White on her platform before heading into the control room were the others had already started gathering; Keith and Kolivan once again were on the main screen. I gave him a wave in greeting which he returned with a nod of his head.

Once Hunk and Pidge came back, Allura stood on her control platform, in her pink Paladin armor, ready to communicate with the coalition.

"All right, Princess, it's time to begin the broadcast." Coran informed.

"Have we secured communications?" Allura asked.

"Yes, Matt and I used the rebel's transponder encryption." Pidge answered.

"Always helps to have a pair of tech-genius siblings around." Coran commented pulling at his mustache.

Allura close her eyes in concentration and the castle's crystal shined down at her in a bright blue light. The map on the screen showed how the castle's communicator began to connect with those around the sector and beyond.

Allura began her speech, "Fellow members of the Voltron Coalition, if you are hearing me now, it is because you have pledged to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with in our fight against Zarkon's enslavement of the free peoples of the universe. But that enslavement is about to be dealt a crushing blow. The time for a full-scale attack on the Galra Empire is now. Far in the future, when they speak of this day, they will speak of our sacrifice, but they will also remember this as the day freedom began to overtake tyranny. You all have missions. You know what to do. Good luck. We'll see you on the other side."

As soon as Allura finished her speech, Hunk and Pidge set out to the Galra communication base on the Green Lion since it had clocking. We stayed behind prepping and putting all revel forces in the right sectors for our attack to work. Storm would stay in the castle to provide covering fire for it and defend in our absence. Lance and Allura made way to their hangars, but I stayed behind with Shiro.

All of this commotion had brought memories of the first time we mounted a full assault on Zarkon's central command. As much as I tried to be strong, there was always that little bit of fear, at the bottom of my heart, threatening to seep through the surface.

Shiro saw me, unmoving with my arms crossed, and came to me lifting my head up with a finger, "Everything is going to be fine. We are not alone in this. There are other people working alongside us for this plan to work."

"I know that Shiro, and you have no idea the relief I feel that not all of the weight rest of our shoulders, but I cannot help to remember the last time we attacked the Galra."

"You mean when we built the giant teludav?"

"Yes, you… disappeared." I said sighing; my heart began to speed up with all the emotions that coursed through me.

Shiro placed his hands on my shoulders and brought me close leaning down a bit until we stood face to face, "Nothing is going to happen to me. Remember that time you found me when I was lost in space?" I nodded my head. "Well, I made you a promise that day, and I told you I would never leave you again. I intend to make true to my promise."

"I don't doubt your word, it has never crossed my mind. You are a man of honor." I touched his face, "I just want a future with you, is that too much to ask?"

"No." He said with a small smile, "I'll make you another promise, and I wanted to ask you this before, but I guess I'm a bit of a coward when it comes to these things. Anyways, when this is all over and the universe is once again free of Zarkon, I want you to come with me to Earth… I want to spend my life with you. I been through so many hardships from the Kerberos mission and even before that, but I would not change anything because all of that lead me to you. If I had not been so stubborn and neglected my best friends' words, I would have been stuck on Earth without ever amounting to something greater… without ever meeting you. And I would have known deep down I was missing something but never would have figured out that other piece of the puzzle… You. So, Taylin Fireheart." He stood a step back and began to get on one knee.

I was a little confused at his action and dizzied by his beautiful words, "What are you doing?" I pulled at his arms.

"Just let me have this." He said with a chuckle.

Shiro had now taken a knee, he looked up at me, gazing deeply into my confused eyes, "Marry me?"

Does two words shook me to my core, I had to repeat it over and over in my head to finally comprehend what he was asking me. Shiro looked up at me and raised an eyebrow when I showed no sign of moving, until I snapped out of my frozen state and jumped into his arms.

"Of course, I will." I said with a laugh, "Nothing will make me happier than to be with you for the rest of my life."

Shiro stood up and twirled me around tightly in his embrace, and set me down, "What did you think I was doing?" He asked with amusement.

"I thought something was wrong with you." I laughed.

"Doesn't it work the same way in your culture?"

"Um, no. A man would normally ask at eye level."

"Oh." Shiro said scratching his head, "And what would be the word for what we are now?"

" _Omatitha,_ which means promised to someone."

Shiro tried to pronounce it a couple of times, but failed, "You know what, its engaged. That's what we'll call it."

I patted his arm, "If that makes you happy."

He kissed the top of my head, "Very."

After our heart-to-heart moment, we had to get our game faces on and fly out to Naxzela with Voltron already formed. The other key groups of the plan had already begun to carry out their missions and some had successfully carried them out.

We moved in at medium speed toward the grey planet with purple glowing veins that ran on its surface; everything about this planet screamed Galra.

"The Senfama Zaiforge cannon is ours." Coran said over comm; I let out a sigh of relief, "Naxzela attack in under way."

I pushed my handles forward moving Voltron faster and breaking the Naxzela atmosphere, tearing a Galra cruiser in half, and landing harshly on the ground. The lions roared as the dust particles settle around us and we stood up to our full height.

"All right, Paladins, we've only got one chance to take Naxzela, so let's make it count." Shiro said.

Galra cruisers began to fire at us from above and we returned fire with the same force using the Red and Green Lion laser cannons. Our attack also consisted of shooting down energy pillars powering the Galra bases.

"Incoming cruiser, three o'clock!" Lance warned.

I moved Voltron away quickly before the laser could make impact, but something else exploded behind us making us stumble a bit.

"What was that?" Allura asked.

"I have no idea." I answered, "I don't see anything."

Lance was about to say something when a chain of explosion broke out near us, it was like we were getting hit by an invisible foe.

"What's hitting us?" Shiro grunted.

"We're in a minefield." Pidge informed, "Somehow, the bombs were cloaked."

"What?" I asked, "Since when do they have cloaking technology. We need to get out of this mine field or the explosions will tear us apart."

"Shield. Shield!" Hunk exclaimed.

Pidge managed to bring up the shield just in time before one of the cruisers made a direct hit.

"My systems are able to detect the mines, but there's just too many to safely maneuver through them." Pidge said, "And, with the cruisers covering all possible exits from this minefield, we have no way out!"

"Wait a tick." Allura voiced, "Perhaps I can freeze the mines."

"Then we could fly out of here before they explode." Lance finished her thought.

"All right, that sounds like a plan." Shiro stated, "Freeze em' Allura."

We disbanded back into lions and Allura immediately began to fire her ice cannon at the mines. The others and I dodge the incoming fire from above while trying to avoid hitting a bomb.

"Let's move!" Shiro ordered, "Form Voltron!" We formed Voltron again and manifested the sword in the jaws of the Red Lion. "Great work, team. Let's secure Naxzela." We began to move rapidly, cutting Galra cruisers in half. I send an invisible force to some of the bombs that floated in the area and pushed them against two incoming battle cruisers. They exploded immediately on impact obliterating them to pieces.

"Way to go, Taylin!" Hunk cheered.

"We have another one behind us." Pidge informed.

I turned Voltron around and did the same with the new cruiser, breaking it into a million pieces.

"How do you like a taste of your own medicine." I retorted with a smirk.

We kept on fighting an endless wave of ship, but what gave us the strength to keep going was when Coran informed us that the two cannons were now in our possession. Ground troops began to move in, taking down Galra soldiers and sentries.

"We've almost taken the entire area!" Coran informed.

"Yes!" Lance cheered.

"Oh wait, quiznak!" Coran exclaimed.

"What's happening Coran?" I asked.

"The communications satellite is back on line." He answered, "Galra distress calls are going through!"

"It doesn't matter, Coran." Shiro said, "They're too late. We've just about secured Naxzela."

"Naxzela has fallen into coalition hands." I said with a smile, "There are only a couple of cruisers left. We should be done in a moment."

"Okay, team! Let's take them down!" Shiro exclaimed.

Voltron moved through enemy forces in a blur and took the three remaining cruisers down with a swing of the sword.

"Now the planet is ours." I said with content, the Galra Empire was nearing its end.

Nothing was going to stop the fire we ignited.

It would purify the universe.

* * *

Hello again!

I was actually going to publish this in a few days but I got quiet a few messages saying they wanted the next chapter already.

So, you asked and I answered.


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

 **A New Defender**

Even after taking down more than a dozen Galra cruisers, they kept coming in like pesky insects trying to shoot us down from all angles. Since the communications satellite came back online, the Galra of Naxzela had been able to call for back up.

"It appears that all of the planets we've engaged have been pacified, if not totally liberated." Coran stated; the alarms of the castle began to blare, the sound in our cockpits, "Wait. There's another Galra cruiser approaching Naxzela."

"Can one of the cannons shoot it down before it reaches us?" I asked, grunting as dodge another ion cannon.

"Sector Car Niomofor is clear." Matt informed, "Let me see if I can get a line on the battle cruiser."

After a few ticks, no word of the battle cruiser's demise was said over the comm making me a bit anxious, "Did anyone take it out?"

"Zaiforge cannon Senfama, are you still operational?" Matt asked.

"Negative." Keith answered.

"That incoming battle cruiser must have shut them down remotely." Coran theorized.

"Can they do that?" I asked

"Well they just did." Keith responded, "Sorry, guys. That's it for artillery support. What should we do about that cruiser, Shiro?"

We destroyed another energy pillar crumbling it to the ground by punching it with the Green Lion. "That cruiser's gonna be too late. Naxzela's almost secure." Shiro answered.

The alarms began to blare in our ears as a battle cruiser had targeted us ready to fire its laser beam, "On our left! Shield up!" Shiro ordered. Pidge summoned the shield in a tick of time, blocking us from most of the laser's energy, but it still pushed us back. It kept its beam on us until we managed to reflect it back onto them, exploding the cruiser in the process. We flew up, passing the fire cloud, and I quickly moved us into position turning us around. Hunk summoned the laser cannon and fired taking down multiple laser turrets on the ground. The whole base went super nova, engulfed in a bright yellow explosion.

We landed back on the ground with a loud crashing sound lifting up dust everywhere, but as soon as we touched down, the ground began to shake violently.

"Whoa!" Lance exclaimed, "Did we cause that earthquake?"

"I don't think so!" Pidge responded.

The alarms went crazy once again, igniting my cockpit in a red crimson color.

"Guys look over there!" Hunk said.

Pillars bigger than Voltron began to emanate from the ground, reaching up towards the sky, making us look insignificant. They looked cylindrical in shape and their sides had glowing purple veins that pulsed light.

"Uh… guys, what are those?" Lance asked.

"I have no idea." I answered, "But I count more than dozen of them."

"We've never seen anything like this from the Galra before." Pidge added.

"Are they weapons?" Hunk asked.

"They look like some sort of generators." Pidge responded.

"Pidge might be right." I said, "The pulsing light from the side of the pillars is some sort of strange energy… I can feel it."

"Stay alert." Shiro advised.

"I say we get outta here." Lance suggested, "Pidge, plot a course for our escape."

"Hold on." Shiro stated, "We should find out what these things are."

"I'm not sure that's such a wise idea, Shiro." I retorted, "Whatever the Galra have planned for those things, will not be good. We should get out of here before it's too late."

The beams shot purple beams towards the sky creating some type of barrier, it began to cover the sky rapidly; there was no escaping their trap. The blue sky turned a luminescent purple color that covered the entire planet; the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

"This can't be safe." Hunk said.

"Do you feel that?" Allura asked, "That wave of darkness?"

"Yes." I said, "I can feel it all around us… its everywhere." It was that same energy that I felt when we were attacked by the witch on our mission to take down Galra central command; it was that same power that tried to taint me so long ago when I was captures by Zarkon. I could not feel anything that was not covered by the blanket of darkness, only the life force of the other Paladins and the Lions remained strong.

Suddenly, a strong force began to push against us from above, it was like a mountain had dropped on me. It became hard to breath and move my controls in any direction to try to get us away from it.

"I can't move red!" Lance yelled.

"Yellow won't budge, either." Hunk grunted.

The intensity of the force was so strong that Voltron was brought down to its hands and knees.

"This energy field is holding us down!" Pidge exclaimed, "Gravity levels are spiking!"

"So, the Galra found a way to mess with the planet's gravity." I said, "What more do they have up their sleeves?"

"We have to get outta here!" Shiro grunted, "If we stay here, we'll be crushed. Everyone, we have to focus. Give everything you've got, and maybe we can fight through this energy field. Ready?"

We closed our eyes for a brief moment before trying to take a deep breath, "Ready!"

We pushed on our handles with all the energy we could muster, and Voltron slowly began to stand up. I activated the wing boosters, with the help of the Blue and Yellow Lions, we took off toward the sky. My instruments read that we were flying at max capacity but the strength of the gravity pulling us down was proved it was not enough. Voltron's hull resonated in our ears as we got closer to the shield, when we suddenly lost power and plummeted down to the ground; we screamed at the force of the impact.

"I'm trying to feed Voltron energy, but it's just isn't enough!" I yelled, "The gravity pull won't let me stabilize us!"

"Is-is anyone else able to move around?" Hunk asked hopefully.

"Barely, but the gravitational pull is worse on Voltron." Pidge stated grunting loudly, "Maybe if we go down to the surface, Hunk and I can figure out a way to interrupt this energy field."

"That sounds good," Lance said, "Except for the zillion robot dudes still kickin' around down there."

"We're gonna have to stay in tight formation." Shiro spoke up, "Watch each other's backs. Let's move!"

I got off my seat and reached my lion's hatch, exiting Voltron, and using my jetpack to lower me down to the torso. The gravity was a bit less on my own body, out of Voltron, but it was still difficult to move about. I took a deep breath before jumping off Voltron completely and landing hard on the surface of Naxzela. I followed after Allura, who began to dodge incoming attacks. We jumped and ran in different directions to make it more difficult for the sentries to aim.

We reached a ledge and jumped off using our jet packs to carry us to the other side. I turned around and summoned a shield protecting us from the dozens of lasers.

"Pidge and Hunk do your thing and do it fast." Shiro ordered.

"Lance, I will open windows for you on my shield for you to return fire." I said, "I don't know how long I will be able to hold it up if they keep shooting at it."

Lance summoned his raffle and I made small openings on the surface of my yellow shield. He began to pick them off one my one, the sentries fell off the ledge and into the unknown.

"This rod seems to go all the way down into the planet's core." Pidge informed, "But I'm not detecting any kind of energy source on the planet that could be causing all of this."

"Then we'll need to follow it down to the core." Allura said.

A slight beeping noise came from behind me, "It's open!" Pidge exclaimed, "Let's go!"

The other began to move inside the pillar, while I slowly back up still holding the shield in place. Once Shiro made it inside, I dematerialized it and ran after him jumping off the ledge. We free fell into the tunnel ignited in purple tendrils that glowed in the darkness. After a few ticks, we were still falling, "How long until this thing ends?!" I asked.

Pidge pulled up her screen on her wrist communicator, "Just a few more feet and we'll be down straight to the core." Sure enough, the ground came up fast and we activated our jetpacks to slow down our decent. We landed and quickly moved to a pair of metal doors. When we opened them, a bright magenta light seeped out of the room. In the middle stood a giant glowing orb; the strange energy that I felt on the surface seemed to be coming from it.

"Whoa," Lance breathed, "What is that?"

We walked into the room analyzing our surrounding, staying alert for any sign of danger.

"This is Zarkon's witch doing." Allura stated, "The energy I felt… this must be the source."

"Allura, this facility… it looks Altean." Shiro commented.

"I'm afraid you're correct, Shiro." Allura responded moving forward to stand closer to the orb; we followed close behind, "This is a decommissioned Altean terraforming plant. Somehow, the witch has been able to reactivate it remotely."

"Can you shut it down?" Shiro asked.

"I can try." She reached out her hand to touch it when I came forth and grabbed it tightly in my left.

"You are not doing this alone." I stated. Allura nodded her head and we began to extend our free hands toward the glowing orb and connected our energy to it. As soon as the orb's energy touch or own, it began to shock us making us scream in pain. I tried to pull free, but the dark energy wouldn't let us go. The other rushed to our aid trying to pull us away from the electric current until finally it released us, throwing everyone back onto the floor.

Shiro immediately got up and rushed to me, "Taylin, are you okay?" He helped me stand up slowly with a worried expression written on his face.

"It's too powerful." I said, "Its stronger than Allura and I combined."

We turned to look at Hunk when he gave a load groan getting to his knees, he looked down at his right hand examining the dirt, "This soil is weird. It's so white and powdery, like ground-up rocks or earth… And heximite!"

The doors to the core room opened flooding the room with laser fire, we summoned our Paladin armor shields deflecting the shots. Lance reflected one of the lasers sending it back to a sentry and taking it out. Pidge followed his lead and summoned her Bayard sending her rope dart to the nearest one and cutting it in half.

"What's heximite?" Lance asked over the commotion, "Some of us may have slept through chemistry."

I sent a powerful gust of wind knocking a sentry off balance and quickly hurled a fire ball at it, offing it.

"The whole planet is a bomb," Pidge explained, "one that's big enough to wipe out several solar systems."

"It's under increasing pressure, and when the pressure reaches a certain point, it's going to explode." Hunk added.

"How long do we have?" Shiro asked.

"Maybe twenty-minutes." Hunk answered.

"We have to get off this planet and warn everyone!" Lance exclaimed.

"Anyone within ten solar systems of us is going to get blown to pieces." Hunk said.

"They could take out Voltron, the rebels, and the Blade of Marmora in one fell swoop." Allura stated.

I looked around the room trying to find an alternative exit, more sentries had begun to appear increasing their fire power and pushing us back. We needed to get back to Voltron fast and stop the planet from exploding, I was not going to let innocent people get wiped out by the vile witch. It seemed like our plan had backfired on us.

I saw an opening at the right-hand side up on a ledge, "Guys, to your right!" I yelled, "There is an exit up there!"

Everyone began to move using our jetpacks to jump out of the laser fire, we ran until we reached the doors and left the sentries behind. Pidge took the lead guiding us through the tunnels and bringing us back to Voltron. We got back into our perspective cockpits and began to try to reach The Castle of Lions.

"Coran! Keith! Do you copy?" Shiro asked, "Anyone? Hello! We've lost communications. Pidge, can you boost our signal?"

"No, there's too much electrostatic repulsion!" She answered.

"Seventeen minutes left." Hunk informed.

"They're got to be a way to send out a distress signal." I said, "We are too far away for me to get ahold of Storm."

"We have to get off this planet immediately." Allura stated; she moved her lion making Voltron lift its knee up. We began to move in unison getting Voltron to a standing position, but the ground beneath us suddenly gave out dropping us further into the planet. The purple sky disappeared engulfing us in grey dust.

"Oh no!" Lance exclaimed, "We've fallen even further down!"

"Fifteen minutes." Hunk said.

"No, no!" Pidge panicked, "We can't die here! Not yet!"

"Listen." Shiro said, "We've come through a lot as Voltron. We just have to think."

"Allura… you felt the dark energy when it first started." Lance began, "You have a connection to this magic. I know you can get us of if this somehow. We all saw what you did on the Balmera and how you power the castle. And you Taylin, I seen you do magnificent things with your powers. From creating a simple flower out of thin air to creating a raging snow storm."

"I-I don't know." Allura answered, "I haven't been trained."

"I have to agree with Allura." I added, "I still have so much to learn about myself. My training with my powers was never finished."

"No one trained any of you to save the Balmera or Trinder, but you did it anyway. There's a reason your lions chose you. Since the beginning, you two have brought this team together, without you, Voltron would have never been reunited. I believe in you girls." He took a deep breath, "Every moment we've had together, they've all led to this day. This is your destiny. You both make us the heart of Voltron… two hearts destined for greatness."

His words reminded of what my father had once say to me on the day of my coronation. It was my destiny to become a Paladin of Voltron as it had been to fight alongside beings from another galaxy to defend the universe from tyranny. "I don't know about you Allura, but I'm not giving up."

"Neither am I." She responded with confidence.

I closed my eyes and concentrated in summoning as much energy as I could, reaching deep inside of the pool of my powers. As I moved forward I could sense them whispering my name, calling to me, to join my life force with them. I opened my eyes, but what I saw was no longer the inside of the White Lion, but swirls of different colors dancing before my eyes. They wisped passed me each according to the color of their element until a blue orb stopped inches away from my face and a familiar voice whispered to me, _"We will never leave you."_ With that, it came straight at me. I could feel an enhanced amount of energy coursing through me, heightening every sense of my body. I tightened my hands on my lion's handles and let go of my energy transferring it to Voltron.

"It's working!" Shiro said.

Allura's own energy touched mine and together we gave the lions the power they needed to lift of the planet. I opened my eyes as we zoomed passed the pillars up into the atmosphere; we moved faster than we had ever flown before. I pushed my handles to the max boosting us up further and Lance shot at the barrier with his lion's jaw cannon. The area was illuminated in bright white and a loud tearing sound followed. We left a giant hole on the surface of the magnetic shield freeing us from Naxzela's grasp.

"Yes, we did it!" I cheered, "We did it!"

"Thank you, Lance." Allura said.

"That was all you two." Lance responded.

We flew out of the atmosphere and into space getting back in the game, "We still need to defuse that bomb!" Hunk reminded.

"Keith, can you hear me?" Shiro asked.

"Shiro!" Keith's relieved voiced sounded over the comm, "Where are you? Is everything okay?"

"Not for long if we don't stop Zarkon's witch." Shiro responded.

"She has to be on that cruiser that popped in our radar a while ago." I said.

"I'm way ahead of you." Keith said, "And I brought some backup."

"Rebel squad is en route." Captain Olia informed.

"Good to have Voltron back in the fight." Matt added.

"It's good to be back." I breathed out.

Shiro opened a visual comm to the castle revealing Coran, Storm right beside him, "Coran, you need to get as far away from Naxzela as you can immediately. Pick up any members of the coalition who are nearby but go."

"Wh-what's happening?" Coran asked.

"Naxzela is a bomb, and it's about to go off." Allura answered.

"But what about you?" Coran shot back.

"We'll stop it if we can, but we need you to do this."

"Yes, Princess." Coran responded. He was about to shut down the visual comm when from the corner of the screen I noticed Storm nudge him with his snout. "Uh, Storm is asking what he can do to help."

"There is not too much you can do here Storm, help Coran rally up the troops and get them to a safe distance." A low growl came through, "You must do this Storm, I will try to get back to you as soon as I can." I ended communications before he could protest more. Perhaps there was a way to sever the bond between us and have Storm continue living without me in the case we did not find a way to defuse the bomb.

Lance brought me out of my thoughts, "Thrusters are at max power!"

"I sure hope we make it in time." Hunk said with a hint of fear.

The planet behind us began to become even brighter, Naxzela looked ready to explode on my monitors, "We need to move faster, the planet is about the blow!" I said with angst. So many different thoughts raced through my head, was this really how my life would end? I would never get to say goodbye to Storm or go back to Earth with Shiro after his proposal, perhaps, I was never meant to have any of those things. I had crated strong bonds with others around me, but maybe I had been too hasty. The pain of knowing I would lose people dear to me, felt like a stabbing pain in the heart.

I closed my eyes accepting my fate, as my heart pumped blood rapidly through my veins. It was almost like time stood still, but after just ticks, Coran broke the silence, "Naxzela is returning to normal! You did it!"

I let out the breath I been holding, "You don't know how glad I am to have you back Keith, you saved us all."

"It wasn't me." He responded, making me confused,

"Huh?"

"It was Lotor." Keith added.

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"The cannon on his ship was the only thing powerful enough to take down the shield."

"I don't understand." I voiced, "Why would Lotor saves us?"

A transmission came through our comm channels and it was no other than Lotor himself, "Attention, Paladins of Voltron and rebel fighters. I know we've had our differences in the past, but… I think it is time we had a discussion."

I narrowed my eyes, there was no way he wanted to help us without anything in exchange, Lotor was always up to something, "All right, we will meet with you, but under our conditions."

"I'm glad you see reason, Queen Fireheart."

"Don't get me wrong Lotor." I responded, "One false move and you're finished." With that ominous message I moved Voltron to intercept Lotor's ship and bring him into our fold. I intended to keep an eye on him, he was not getting away from us this time.

* * *

Hey guys!

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter.

So, who do you guys think Tay heard inside the void of her powers?

Also im planning to make a Q and A session, what do you think?

Also, I dropped the bomb of the proposal without warning lol

I know you are all concerned about coming events, but trust me I already have that planned out.


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

 **Enemy of My Enemy**

We intercepted Lotor, flying right behind him in Voltron heading back to the Castle of Lions. He agreed to not pull any stunts and meet under our terms, which was a cell underneath the castle. As we edged closer, the echoes of Storm's thoughts resonated in my head and a flood of relief washed over from him to me.

 _"Are you alright? I was so worried about you."_

 _"I'm fine, Storm."_ I said with a hint of a smile, _"As you may already know, Lotor saved our hide back there."_

 _"I know, and I am thankful for that, but do you truly trust him?"_

 _"Of course not. We are close to the castle, please come out to meet us. I will like you to escort our guest to the landing hangar and watch over him while we arrive to take him down to the detention area."_

 _"Will do."_

I felt how he commanded his armor to expand to the rest of his body and begin to run toward the exit of the castle. A few doboshes passed and a blue glow appeared in the vastness of space. As Storm got closer, his features became more visible and his talons glowed against the silver platting.

"What is Storm doing here?" Hunk asked.

"He is here to guide Lotor into the castle while we disband and head into our hangars." I answered.

"That's a great idea." Lance commented, "I don't trust this guy."

Storm took hold of Lotor's ship and began to head back to the castle. We disbanded Voltron and flew into our perspective hangars. I wanted nothing more than to relax after the eventful day we had, but Lotor's arrival had everyone on edge. I did not believe one word that came out of his mouth; he had bad blood running through his veins. If he really was looking for redemption, he could have come to us long ago instead of toying with us after Zarkon's so called demise.

I exited my hangar and headed toward the pod area, meeting the other Paladins on the way. Shiro came up to me and held my hand tightly, comforting me from what we've just been through.

When we arrived Lotor had already disembarked looking at Storm with a frown, "Could you tell your beast to stop pestering me. He looks like he wants to eat me."

 _"Like I would eat something so vile."_ Storm joked only to me.

"I might just let him." I commented with amusement; Lotor gave me a glare.

"What? Did you really think we were going to let you roam the castle freely?" Allura said crossing her arms.

Storm pushed Lotor with his snout and began to guide him to the lower levels with us in tow. Lotor surprisingly did not say anything else; I was sure he knew where he was being taken. When we arrive in the detention hall, Allura pressed a button on a control panel opening the barrier of the cell; Storm pushed him inside with the tip of one of his talons.

"No need to be so harsh." Lotor retaliated brushing one of his shoulders like a spoiled prince.

"Now we can talk." I said coming to stand close to the holding cell with my arms crossed; the only thing keeping him from lunging at me was the see-through barrier before us, but he did not seem hostile. Rather, he stood there with his hands behind his back looking proud of himself and a small smirk on his face.

"I have to say, it's an honor to meet you." Lotor stated, "Never really thought I would get to meet the Queen of the Drakie. Your race was one of the most fascinating to ever have exited in this universe-"

I raised my hand cutting him off, "Please, boot licking isn't going to put you on my good side. Now, tell us, what is that you want?" I heard Lance snicker at my choice of words.

"I want to help free the universe from this never-ending war." He said lifting his head up high, "I want to bring peace and stability to all races. That was my intention when I assumed the thrown in my father's place. I really thought he was a goner, but it seems he deceived us all."

"And this is supposed to make us trust you?" Allura asked, "After all you've done?"

"I'm not proud of the horrible things I had to commit under my father's reign, but believe me, I never agreed to his cruel methods."

"You are going to have to give us more than your word to believe you." Shiro stated from beside me.

"Very well then, I will provide you with a location of one of the bases that is in charge of supplying the empire with new battle droid."

"And you're just going to hand that over?" I asked in disbelieve.

"I want you to see that I have no intention of harming any of you." He said seriously, "If you give me a chance, I am sure that we can come to a mutual agreement and have each other's trust."

"We'll see about that."

After Lotor's capture, we headed toward the coordinates supplied by him and with a plan to take the base down. We raced in our lions with a bit of hesitation on what we were doing, hopefully, Lotor did not steer us wrong.

"That's our target." Shiro informed, "The moon of Tragoch."

"The base is up ahead and according to intelligence, provided by Lotor, this is where they build sentries for the empire. Cutting this supply will cut down their numbers." I said on their screens.

"Yeah, taking out this base will mean the Galra won't be able to resupply their bases and ships for months." Shiro agreed.

"How do we know this isn't a trap?" Lance asked.

"All the intel's checked out so far." Shiro answered, "Everything's exactly how we were told it'd be. Including preparing for those!"

The alarms inside my lion started blasting in my ears and several small drones began to intercept us, blocking our path to the entrance of the base.

"Pidge?" Allura called.

"I'm sending you the signal to interfere with the drones." Pidge said.

"Signal acquired." Allura responded and moved in front of us summoning the Blue Lion's sonic cannon, "Broadcasting." She blasted it toward the drones off-lining them once the sonic waves hit them.

"Let's take them out before they recalibrate and report our approach." Shiro ordered.

I summoned my lion's jaw blade, following Shiro's lead, and began to slice the small drones in half moving like a white blur in the darkness of space. We took down all of them quickly before they could re-power.

"Form up on me." Shiro ordered, "We're going in." Shiro flew inside the base and we followed right behind him into a narrow tunnel. "We have five minutes before the base realizes their drones aren't responding." The tunnel grew red in color and my instruments spiked with a heat increase. "Be careful to stay in formation and don't touch the sides!"

Piloting White inside the narrow tunnel was becoming difficult because of her size, everyone else was able to stay away from the wall but I almost brushed the side with the tip of White's front paws. The White Lion, seeing me struggle, plotted a course inside the tunnel to keep me in the middle.

A loud banging sound suddenly came from behind me; Hunk had hit the side of the tunnel.

"Oh, uh!" Hunk screamed.

"Hunk!" Pidge called when we came rushing forward and knocking into her.

"I think I may have nicked the side a little bit." Hunk informed.

Lava followed after us getting closer by the tick.

"Let me through!" Allura said. We moved aside for her and she shot an ice ray at the lava momentarily freezing it in place. "We'd better hurry." She advised, "That patch won't last long."

I stayed behind everyone else following the Yellow Lion; the lava had broken through the ice barrier and trailed a few meters behind my tail.

"The lava's gaining on us!" Hunk exclaimed, "We can't outrun it!"

I turned around to face it and fed the metal element to White, she shot a copper beam from her mouth and closed off the tunnel with a thin layer of metal. "That should hold it off a bit longer." I said to the others.

"Good." Allura stated, "We should be directly underneath the Galra base.

"There's an opening up ahead." Shiro said, "Follow me!"

We pushed through the tunnel even faster after the Black Lion and came out in an interception of three other tunnels. We took the top one, but it resulted to be a dead end. The lava has managed to melt through the metal and was now gaining on us, illuminating the tunnel in a red-hot glow.

"Oh no!" Lance exclaimed, "Where trapped."

"No, we're not!" Shiro shot back, "There's another way out! Form Voltron!"

We form Voltron and broke through the wall that blocked our exit, on the other side was were the robots were being manufactured.

"Take down the factory machines!" Shiro ordered.

The Green and Red Lions began to fire their laser cannons at the machines exploding the facility. Pillars that flowed with lava were soon incinerated by their own heat when we shot down the support pipe. The whole base was crumbling at the destruction we were causing. I flew us out of there while multiple explosion coursed through the base and finally detonated whole.

Back in the castle, on the now empty planet of Naxzela, we congregated in the lounge room back into our regular cloths. I wore my usual black fitted suit and sat at all the way at the end of the seats with Storm's head in my lap. I patted his head trailing my fingers slowly over his dark blue scales while he hummed in approval of my doing. He had been acting this way since the last mission on this very planet; he seemed not to want to be apart from me and spend every moment we could together.

"Oh man!" Hunk said stretching his arms, "Going on missions is a lot easier when somebody gives you the information you need before you get there."

"And yet, you still managed to run your lion into a wall." Lance retorted from beside him.

"Yeah, information is one thing." Hunk said, "Ability is something completely different."

"Hunks got a point." I said gazing away from Storm's scales, "Flying inside compact spaces in the bigger lions is a bit more difficult than it looks. I almost brushed the side myself a couple of times, thankfully, the White Lion helped me."

Shiro stood in front of us with his arms crossed, "Well, there is no doubt about it. We haven't encountered a single problem."

"I must admit, we took down a vital target today." Allura said.

"And we made it look pretty easy," Pidge added, "Except for the getting buried in lava part."

"It may be time to consider taking the next step." Shiro commented.

"I'm not comfortable with this." Allura voices, "It just doesn't feel right."

"I have to agree with Allura." I said, "I don't trust him. It feels like were making a pact with a fiend. There just something about him that screams deception."

"We at least have to hear him out." Shiro said turning to look at me, "Give him the benefit of the doubt. He did save our lives."

"Then let's get this over with." I stood up lifting Storm's head from my lap and went for the exit with Allura and Shiro behind me. We took the elevator down to the detainment area, exited it and crossed to catwalk toward the waiting Lotor who sat in his cell patiently.

"Your intel checked out." Shiro stated.

"You still feign surprise." Lotor responded looking down at floor with a smirk, "All the information I've provided proven correct. Every target I've provided, easily dispatched... Yet, you still look at me-"

"As if you were the leader of the most bloodthirsty race of murderers this universe has ever known." Allura say cutting him off.

"Can people not change?" Lotor asked, "Is it so hard to believe that I wish to return the Galra Empire to a bygone era of peace? Our fathers were friends once, long ago. There must be hope for us."

"Forgive give me if am having a hard time believing that the Galra Empire can turn over a new leaf." I voiced crossing my arms, "They have obliterated countless planets only because they refused to do your biding. The Galra Empire has taken so much from them and they have taken that same amount from me... Your father murdered my mother in cold blood right in front of my eyes. Do you think those are the acts of someone who seeks stability and peace? It is your race that extinguished the spark of the Drakie and tore us apart from our closes friends the Alteans. What are we left with? Huh?... Nothing. Only pain and destruction."

Shiro placed a hand on my shoulder being the first time that I have ever revealed that part of my past to him. It was painful to remember how I had seen my mother fall lifeless to the ground.

"I guess we still need convincing." Shiro said.

"I'm very sorry for what my father did to your mother, but the facts speak for themselves." Lotor began, "The Galra Empire is completely reliant on quintessence. Serve that need peaceful, and you have a complete paradigm shift, a new dawn for the empire."

"And you're the man to make this happen?" Allura asked.

"My plan from the beginning has been to find a way to harvest quintessence without resorting to the barbarism of the Komar." Lotor answered, "Extracting quintessence from entire planets at the cost of every living thing? I think not."

"And your solution was to send Voltron to do your dirty work." Allura stated angrily.

"Only Voltron could retrieve the trans-reality comet. So yes, I'm afraid I had to be a bit duplicitous in effecting its retrieval."

"But if the Paladins were killed that would be fine for you, too." Shiro retorted.

"It was a calculated risk, I admit that." He said trying to sound sorry, "But I knew they'd come through without a scratch. Since recovering the comet, I haven't been in the least bit aggressive."

"What about the people who were working with you?" I asked, "Your generals."

"A simple misunderstanding." Lotor said, "I had no idea our paths would cross in the Ulippa System. What would I gain by fighting you?"

"To learn of our style of fighting." I shot back, "Or did you think we would not notice you playing us back on that gaseous planet."

"I was leading you on a chance." He agreed, "I wanted to see how well you worked as a team, but it was never my intention to cause you harm. My sole focus has been finding a way to enter the zone between realities."

Anger bubbled up inside of me, "Sounds like you are your father's son... a hypocrite."

"It was Kind Alfor who led the scientific exploration, with the help of your father, that discovered quintessence." He pointed out standing up, "An exploration, I might add, that resulted in the creation of Voltron. This isn't a zero-sum game. Meeting the needs of the Galra Empire means bringing peace to the universe." He turned his head to the side, "That is the future enlightenment brings us, one of prosperity for all... I saved your lives and the lives of all your comrades. I have given you target after target in the Galra Empire, and all of them have been dismantled or destroyed at no cost of life to you. All I ask is to be judged by my actions rather than your preconceptions of my race. If that is beyond you, then perhaps you should just finish me and get it over with. Cleary, none of you, are ready to end this war."

"You know nothing of what we want." I said turning on my heel and heading back to the elevator not wanting to be under Lotor's judgmental gaze any longer. His comments had left me out of sorts. A child should not have to carry the burden of the father or mother, but that had seemed to be the recurring case. Lotor wants to be separated from his father's deeds and be recognized by what he has done, but something deep inside of me kept telling me not to trust him, however, another part was lenient to listen to him. What if he's right and we could end the conflict once and for all with the minimum number of casualties? Lotor had inside information of how the empire worked and he had proven that by giving us key points of attack. If only my father was here to guide me and tell me how to proceed. Perhaps he should have been the one to sleep for ten thousand years instead of me, but my father was too selfless, always placing me before him.

I had gotten back to my room to change into my Paladin armor pondering on Lotor's words and when I came out, Shiro was there waiting for me in his own armor. He came to me and placed his hands on my shoulders gazing deeply into my eyes, "Are you okay?"

"I don't know Shiro, this thing with Lotor... it's just left me confused." I said taking a deep breath, "I don't know what to think anymore."

"I understand your reasons why you don't want to trust him, but we have to consider our options."

"I know." I said leaning into him and placing my forehead on his chest plate.

Shiro wrapped his arms around me and placed his chin on my head, "We'll find a way to ends this with or without Lotor." We pulled apart and I gave him a small smile. "Now come on or we're going to be late for the transmission with the coalition." Shiro grabbed my hand and led me to the meeting hall were the projection of the galaxies was already in place and one by one, the leaders began to appear on screens above it.

"As of it today, our rebel forces have taken control of one-third of the former Galra Empire." Allura informed, "But we cannot grow complacent. The Galra Empire is still the dominant force in the universe. However, the tide is changing."

"The rebel coalition is winning because of you, Princess Allura." One of the leaders said, "You and Voltron. Mere cycles ago, I felt that my race would breath its last breath in Galra chains, but then Voltron appeared on the horizon, and our lives changed forever!"

"This bid for liberty is only possible because of all our sacrifices." Allura stated, "And we still have a long way to go before the entire universe is free."

"We'll be behind you every step of the way." The leader said with a smile.

"Thank you." Allura said, "We will reconvene soon. Until then." The screen of the leaders disappeared and Keith and Kolivan appeared on a bigger one at the center.

"Did you complete raids on targets we sent on our last communication?" Shiro asked.

"Yes." Kolivan confirmed, "The information we've received from Lotor has consistently checked out."

"With all these successful missions taking place in such a short period of time, it won't be long before the Galra realizes we're using inside information." Pidge stated.

"That's true." Kolivan agreed, "We should expect the enemy to change protocol soon."

"Then we need to act fast and hit as many targets as possible." Lance added.

"We'll talk to Lotor and see if there's anything else he can give us." Shiro said with his arms crossed.

"I can't stop thinking that we might be an unwitting part of a much larger ulterior motive." Allura said to Shiro.

"That might be." I spoke up, "That's why we need to be careful how we carry out our missions and send scouts to check possible locations of Galra bases."

"Agreed." Kolivan said, "We can't risk losing anymore soldiers. Our numbers have been thinned as it is."

We went back to the lower levels to visit Lotor and have him provide more information. He had his back turned when we arrived, when he heard our footsteps he glazed over his shoulder. "What a nice surprise, back for more?"

"If you are willing." I said expressionless.

Lotor smirked, "Always am, dear. Every lead I've provided you so far has been unerring, exact, and relatively easy to accomplish. Anything I would give you now would be somewhat more perilous in nature."

"We're listening." Allura said.

"I have some information I believe you would consider important on a more personal level." He said.

"Such as?" I asked lifting an eyebrow when he stopped talking for a few ticks.

"There is a prison, formerly under my control." He resumed, "It houses a special inmate."

"Who are you referring to?" I asked annoyed.

"A human."

"A human?" Allura asked bewildered.

"Yes, one that I'm sure has a close relationship with one of the Paladins, or the Green one to be more precise."

"Sam..." Shiro breathed.

Lotor told us the location of Pidge's father and we immediately rushed to control room to contact Pidge and tell her the news. She was with her brother, Matt, and a group of revels getting their fleet back in order. Allura opened a frequency and soon Pidge appeared on the main screen along with Nyma and Rolo.

"Hey guys." Pidge greeted us.

"Pidge." Shiro began seriously.

"Is something wrong?" She asked catching on.

"We have a lead on Commander Holt." Shiro responded, "Your father."

"Our father?" Pidge said sadly.

"Lotor gave us information of where he might be." I said.

"Where is he?" She asked franticly.

"Because you father was considered a valuable scientific asset," Allura stated, "He was moved to a remote prison with others like him. They're being forced to work for the Galra Empire."

"According to Lotor, he's still at the prison, but he could be transferred at any given moment." I added.

"As soon as the teludav is repaired, we can all head over there." Shiro said.

"Send us the coordinates." Pidge demanded with determination and ran out after her brother.

"Pidge, Matt! If you just wait for us, we will be able to provide the fire power and backup that you need." I called after them.

"Hey, don't worry." Rolo said, "We'll make sure they got the backup they need."

"Please." I voiced with worry, "Bring them back safe... All of them."

"Good luck." Allura said ending the transmission.

"I still think Pidge should have waited." I said looking at Shiro and Allura, "But I be lying if I said I did not understand their urgency. They had their father missing for over two years. I just hope they can get to him in time."

Pidge and Matt had returned to the castle with grim expressions, their father was no longer at the holding facility Lotor provided. I hugged Pidge when I saw tears threaten to fall on the sides of her eyes, kneeling down to her level and just embracing her with everything I had. Something about her always brought out a different feeling inside of me, there was always that constant need to protect her. She looked so fragile and defeated. I brought her to her seat in the control room and she sat with her feet up covering her face with her arms. I took a seat next to her on the floor running my hands through her hair not saying anything because I knew anything I said would not matter; she was hurting. Matt stood close to us trying to stay strong for her, but I could see red in his eyes.

The other Paladins stood by the front of the room analyzing our next course of action when we received a transmission. Allura opened it to reveal Zarkon with his menacing purple gaze, he wore an armored mask over his features and cylinders on his back to what I assumed supplied him with quintessence; we had left him in poorer shape than we thought. Pidge hearing us gasped lifted her head up and jumped out of her seat.

"Paladins of Voltron." Zarkon said in a monotone voice, "I am making a one-time offer. I have someone of value to you." He stepped aside to reveal Commander Holt on his knees with his hands chained in front of him. He looked up with a sad gaze; his features looked worn out.

"Dad!" Pidge called.

"I will hand him over, and in exchange, you give me my son Lotor." He demanded, "Bring him to me and the prisoner is yours. Meet my demands if you want to see the Earthling alive." He left us with that ominous massage and ended the transmission.

Zarkon wanted his son back, there was no real option here. If getting Commander Holt was going to help us on our mission to take back the universe meant giving up Lotor, I would do so without a blink. If Pidge cared about him so much, then so would I.

I would not stand here and watch her lose her father not while we could do something about it.

"He's alive!" Pidge said urgently, "Our dad is alive! We have to get him back!"

"We're going to." Matt said, "What's the plan, Shiro?"

"We can't rush into anything." Shiro responded, "We have to think this through."

"What's to think through?" Pidge shot back angrily, "It's my dad! We're doing this!"

"We need to operate under the assumption that Zarkon will try to double-cross us." Shiro said; I could help to think he had a point, Zarkon would surely take advantage of the situation.

"We have Voltron!" Pidge shouted, "We can do anything!"

I placed a hand on her shoulder, "Pidge, Shiro has a point-"

"NO!" She cut me off, "We can't let this opportunity slip away!" She turned to her brother who stood their hesitantly, "We're too close! Our father is too close!"

I looked at the others and sighed, "If you are unwilling to wait, then we have no choice but to comply. We will help you get your father back, but first, we must speak with Lotor. He has to know what will be going on."

Pidge looked up at me with a frown, "Why do we need to speak to him? He is as evil as his father."

"Because we owe him at least that." I said placing a hand on her shoulder, and this time she did not shy away from it, "He saved our lives and has helped us in taking down important Galra bases. It would not seem right to just hand him over without warning." I moved my hand to touch the side of her face, "We'll get your father back, I promise."

Pidge seemed to calm down with my words and nodded her head in agreement. I moved to the exit to head down to see Lotor once again, but this time, all the Paladins followed. We reached the end of the cat walk, Lotor analyzing us.

"We ran into some problems." I said.

"What kind of problems?" He asked cocking his head to the side.

"Zarkon managed to move the human prisoner before we were able to get to him. Now, he wants you in exchange for him."

"And let me guess, you want to hand me over."

I looked at him crossing my arms with a huff not saying anything, Lotor sighed and began to speak, "My father has held the universe in a death grip for millennia, but he sees it slipping from his grasp because of your effort and because of mine." He balled his hands into fists, "With our forces combined, we would provide the greatest threat Zarkon has ever faced. He knows we could topple his empire, so this is his attempt to tear us apart. But united, we could forge a new path, open doors to new worlds and crush tyrannical ways of an old regime."

"A regime you ran." Pidge stated looking around at us, "We can't listen to him. He just wants to save his own skin."

"It's true." Lotor responded, "Is you return me to my father, he would surely see to my demise. And with his most legitimate threat to the throne removed, he would only grow stronger."

"One less threat to Zarkon and one less threat to us." Pidge said with her eyebrows together.

"Your fathers, Kings Alfor and Glerd, once stood side by side with Zarkon and protected the universe from harm. There was no foe the Paladins of old couldn't defeat. Sadly, that time of peace has been lost, but, together, we can find it once more. Queen Fireheart, Princess Allura, imagine, a new generation that could lift the mantle of peace. The children of King Glerd, King Alfor and Emperor Zarkon, you and I, a royal alliance between Drakie, Alteans, and Galra..."

"How 'bout we don't imagine that?" Lance butted in.

"Lies!" Pidge exclaimed, "Every word is a lie!"

"And what of Zarkon's words?" Lotor asked, "You think he'll return your father as he says? You think the corrupt leader of a ruthless empire will be true to his word? He wants more than just me."

"You think he'll double-cross us." Shiro stated.

"I think he'd do anything to rid himself of me and claim the Lions of Voltron." Lotor said.

Allura stood there in deep thought, "An alliance with the heir to the Galra throne could end this war."

"What?!" Pidge said outraged balling her small hands into fists.

"It's not ideal." She said turning around to face her, "I don't like trusting the Galra, but it could be our best option."

"No!" Pidge shouted at her.

"Pidge think of the lives we could save." Allura reasoned, "Think of the countless worlds we could free."

"Think of my father!" She yelled louder.

Lance scooted over to her placing a hand on her shoulder, "I'm with Pidge. Let's get this guy out of here, pronto. Right, Hunk?"

"I don't know." Hunk answered, "I mean, if this dude is on our side like he says he is-" Hunk turned to Lotor with a pleading gaze, "You are saying you're on our side, right? Couldn't he lead the Galra toward peace from inside?"

Pidge began to bubble up in anger until she finally exploded, "We are turning him in and getting my dad back! We have Voltron to bring peace to the universe!"

"Don't play into Zarkon's hands!" Lotor yelled.

"That's enough!" Shiro said raising his tone of voice; everyone looked at him shocked.

I took a deep breath and spoke up softly trying to calm the situation, "I see the point of view of everyone here in this room, but if we are to get Pidge's father back, I don't see another option. We must hand Lotor over to Zarkon. I will go with you to insure Zarkon does not double-cross us."

"No, you're staying here in the castle." Shiro said still with a hint of anger, "I don't want you anywhere near Zarkon. Only Pidge, Matt, and I will go. Everyone else will stay here."

"But if you're going then I want to go." I retaliated, "You need me."

"The decision is final, Taylin." Shiro stated crossing his arms, "You will stay here with the rest of the team. Zarkon has had his eye on your powers for a long time, I am not serving you up to him on a silver platter." He turned his back on us heading to prepare for the incoming mission.

The wait was excruciating, knowing that three of our team members we're going to be face to face with a king killer brought chills to my back. I paced in front of my station listening in to the radio chatter of Shiro and Pidge; they were approaching the landing zone.

"I wish I could have gone." I said under my breath.

 _"Shiro is right to keep you away from Zarkon."_ Storm retorted.

 _"He might be, but I don't like the idea of him going to face the greatest menace in the galaxy without backup."_

 _"Shiro is smart, he will come up on top if Zarkon tries anything."_ Storm reassured.

"Everything's going according to plan." Hunk informed looking up at the screen making me stop my pacing.

"I still don't like it." Lance voiced his discomfort, "This whole thing is like making a deal with the devil."

Coran slammed his fist on his control panel, "I hate being so far out of range!"

"Zarkon's fleet is also out of range." Allura said, "These are the terms we agreed on."

The negotiation was going as planned, I could not help to bite my finger nails as the exchange began. Everyone stood attentively looking at the screen without batting an eye, the green and red dots representing Commander Holt and Lotor, as they moved toward the center. I felt sweat drop roll down my neck at my nervousness. I gave a sigh of relief when Commander Holt's dot finally got closer to Pidge and Shiro, but suddenly his signal disappeared.

"Oh, no." I breathed.

"Lotor was right." Hunk said, "Zarkon double-crossed us."

"Everyone get to your lions!" Lance ordered, "We're going in!"

"Lance, stop." I commanded, "We can't move in without risking the lives of the other Paladins and Sam, who is still in the possession of Zarkon."

"Taylin is right." Coran said, "If we move in, Zarkon's fleet moves in as well."

"Yeah, but without Lotor as our prisoner, we don't hold any cards." Hunk pointed out, "We're powerless. What do we do?"

"We hold our positions." Allura spoke up.

"What!?" Lance exclaimed, "We can't just sit back."

"I don't like it any more than you do, but I'm not going to risk anyone's life." I said ending the conversation.

We watched the screen again until there was movement on the ground, "Pidge, Shiro, and Matt are moving in!" Hunk exclaimed.

"Zarkon's fleet's mobilizing as well!" Coran informed.

"Now we can move in." I stated, "Everyone get to your lions! We need to provide cover for our team and get Sam out."

We quickly changed into our Paladin armors and launched out of the castle. Storm decided to stay behind and defend the castle from the incoming fleet as Coran would be all alone to protect it. We moved rapidly heading to the drop zone.

"We need back up." Shiro said over the comm, "Tay! We could use a little help down here."

"Already in route!" I responded moving my handles further front shooting me into the atmosphere. The Galra fleet came into view and they immediately began to open fire. I began to take evasive maneuvers, "We can't let the shuttle dock with the cruiser!"

"Copy that!" The others responded.

I shot a wind tunnel from White's jaws taking down several fighters coming to intercept us. I summoned my jaw blade and teared the surface of the nearest cruiser causing multiple explosions inside the ship. Another one was activating its ion cannon, but I quickly landed on top of it, took hold of it with White's claws, and teared it off throwing it down below. It took down with it a Galra fighter which fell close to the epic brawl between Lotor and Zarkon.

I noticed another cruiser preparing to fire its cannon having Lance in its sight, "Lance! To your left!" I watched in horror as I was too late to warn, but suddenly Storm came out of the blue, wearing his armor, clawing the cannon off. Blue laser beams rained down at other parts of the ship exploding it to pieces; Storm jumped back into the air.

"Storm!" We yelled in unison.

"Thought you could use a little help." Coran said.

 _"I going to tear that ship apart."_ Storm growled and move to next one. He shot a powerful water tunnel from his jaws, that glowed a light blue, and created a hole on the ship and ran his talons by the bridge causing the ship to explode. I smiled and join him taking down fighters with our jaws or claws; they stood no chance.

"We did it!" Hunk cheered.

"Nice work!" Allura exclaimed.

"I'm proud of you all!" I added.

"Shiro, Pidge, the sky has been cleared of all Galra." Lance informed, "What's your status?"

"Shuttle is not clear yet!" Pidge yelled.

I pulled up a closer view of the ship on my screens, "Pidge, your descending rapidly."

"We know!" Pidge grunted, "No one is manning the ship! Just give us a moment we are almost through."

A couple of doboshes later, Shiro finally got back to us, "The shuttle is clear."

I gave a sigh of relief, "I'm glad to hear it." We came to fly close to them, guiding their ship back to the castle.

"Nice job team." Lance praised.

"Where are Lotor and Zarkon?" Shiro asked.

I looked to my right to see multiple explosion down below, "I think I found them. They are still fighting. We need to help Lotor."

I changed course and headed to their location with the others in tow, Zarkon was about to finish him off when we shot laser beams saving Lotor's life, but when the dust cleared he had changed position and now aimed his cannon towards us. I moved to the front ready to summon a shield with Storm at my side. Zarkon shot the beam but it missed by a few feet. Zarkon fell to his knees; Lotor had finished him off.

His demise should have brought content to my heart, but I could not rejoice in someone's death.

No matter who they were, death, was not not to be laughed at.

* * *

Hey Everyone! Happy Friday!

Thanks for all the feedback, I really love hearing from you all.

I hope everyone has great weekend.


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

 **Power Struggle**

The demise of the Galra Emperor had brought just a hint of a breather to us Paladins and the coalition, but there was still a lot of work to do. The word of Zarkon's death spread throughout the empire like a wild fire and his forces immediately began to try to control their sectors. People of different worlds began to have a spark of courage, they had hope that freedom was something they could truly grasps. They were like animals in captivity, take away their chains, set them free, but they didn't know what came next. We wanted to change that; people looked up to Voltron to guide them to freedom, and whether we liked it or not, Lotor was a part of that plan.

We were summoned by Allura to the main control room of the castle; we landed back in Olkarion, the home of the coalition. Olkarion had proven to be a vital part to the protection of the coalition and a home to those who had lost it all. It was were the rebellion started. The Olkari had fought for their freedom; they became our closes allies.

When the door to control room opened, Allura stood over a troubled Lotor, who wore a grim expression on his features. The smirk with the sparkling eyes had disappeared; killing his father had not been something easy, it made me feel a bit of sympathy for him.

Lance jumped up startled when he noticed Lotor and cringed, "Look, its Prince Lotor just hangin' out on the bridge."

"Guess this is a thing that's happening." Pidge commented.

"I suppose we'll have to get used to it-" Coran said touching his stomach, "Like my Zarbloovian intestinal eel."

A screeching sound came from his stomach making me back away a little, "Ew, Coran, you still haven't got rid of that thing?!"

"Easy, fella." Coran patted his stomach, "Nah, I stopped a while back, I became sentimental toward it."

I cringed and followed after Shiro who was walking into the room.

"What's going on, Lotor?" He asked.

"The death of my father has created a power vacuum within the Galra Empire." Lotor answered, "The most formidable Galra leaders will gather for what is called the Kral Zera sometime in the next two days to decide who will take the throne. We must be there."

"So, you want us to fly you into the middle of a meeting with all the most powerful Galra leaders?" Lance asked unamused.

"Lotor, we appreciate all that you've sacrificed, but this sounds far too dangerous." Allura said.

"We've been in more dangerous situations with much less to gain." Shiro stated, "Putting Lotor on the Galra throne is what we've been discussing."

"Yeah, but no one told us that would mean flying into a war zone." Pidge retorted.

"Planning a mission of this magnitude will take time." I added, "That is something we don't have the luxury of obtaining. It's far too risky."

"We don't have a choice." Shiro said.

"I have to agree with Tay." Lance said crossing his arms, "We need time to think this over."

"Lance, this is not your call." Shiro shot back, "The coalition wouldn't be where it is right now without Lotor. We need to listen to him."

"Well, I'm with Tay, too." Pidge voiced, "This is too dangerous to pull off at the last minute."

"Agreed." Coran spoke up, "So, it looks like it's four-to-two, in the Queen's favor."

"Look, this isn't a vote." Shiro stated, "I'm the leader of Voltron. I'm making this decision."

"Oh, so you would jump over your second in command and your team?" Allura said irritated, pointing a finger at him, "Like when you armed Lotor with your Bayard without consulting the rest of us?"

"That's right." Shiro responded; I was a bit taken back by his words. "Making that decision resulted in the removal of Zarkon."

"You put the entire operation in jeopardy." Allura said angrily.

"I put an end to Zarkon's reign." Shiro was getting mad at this point, "Now is time to finish the job."

Lance walked to stand in between them, "Shiro, we're all on the same side here."

"I told you to stay out of this!" Shiro yelled at him.

I uncrossed my arms from where I been standing and took a step forward, my hands were shaking a bit in irritation, "This is not how a team works. Voltron functions with the ability of six different pilots, you can't make decisions without consulting any of us and rendering us blind. There is wisdom in numbers."

"Then you don't trust me enough to call the shots? Is that what you're saying?!" He asked clenching his fists, "Then go ahead! Take my place!"

"I'm not trying to take anyone's places!"

"You think you could-" He was cut off when Storm roared loudly and moved to stand behind me with his teeth bared. Shiro suddenly held his head in pain as Storm jabbed at his mind.

 _"I will not allow anyone, absolutely anyone, to yell at Taylin! Even if it's coming from you!"_ His tail lashed out side to side, a low hiss escaped his jaws.

Shiro's eyes began to roll back into his head, "Storm! That's enough!" I commanded, but he would not cease. I extended my mind to Shiro, putting up barriers, stopping the pain from proceeding; he gave a sigh of relief when the pain subdued and slowly opened his eyes. He was a bit shocked at what had just happened.

"While you all waste time squabbling, sinister forces are conspiring to fill the Galra power void." Lotor spoke up seeing the heavy tension in the room, "If I do not return to claim the throne, there is no telling who will."

"Good." Shiro said sternly, "Its settled."

"How's that settled?" Pidge asked.

"Our hands are tied." He responded shaking his head, trying to clear his mind, "The Kral Zera is happening. If we want to stop the Galra, we need to put Lotor on the throne immediately."

"Let me know as soon as you come up with a viable plan." Lotor said and made his way to the exit of the control room.

Everyone else was still shaken up with the occurrence moments ago, I could not bear the stares I was getting. I crossed my arms looking at the ground and began to take my leave. Shiro tried to grab my arm, but I side stepped him; a low growl emanated from Storm's chest as he began to follow me. I headed to the nearest room where I could get some peace; the observatory of the castle. The green trees and blue horizons of Olkarion brought a hint of peace to my mind. It felt like I had a big fight with Shiro, but in reality, it had been a small argument. So many things were happening at once; one is to become overwhelmed at some point. It could not be easy being the leader of Voltron; I understood the feeling. When Shiro disappeared, the other Paladins often looked to me to make the decisions. I guess it's true what they say, its lonely at the top.

One thing was clear, ever since the arrival of Lotor, there had been so much tension in the team that I could almost feel it walking into a room. He had demonstrated to be an ally to our cause, but anyone is their right mind would have their doubts. Who knew what terrible atrocities he had committed before we've met. Had my father faced the same problems as a Paladin of Voltron? Yes. How he dealt with them I was sure were different from the way I had to solve them. He was never in love with the head of Voltron, that's what made things complicated. Much to my discomfort, Shiro spoke the truth. We needed Lotor on the throne in order for him to control the empire and allow us to move freely throughout it. Liberating planets with the help of the Galra would make our job a lot easier and turn the tide of this war. My father had hoped he could somehow get through to Zarkon and change his ways, but he proved to be too far gone. However, it might be different with his son. Lotor could be reasoned with. Perhaps it was time I stopped pushing against that idea. Not all Galra were bad; there was proof of that in the Blade of Marmora and Keith.

 _"What are you thinking?"_ Stormed asked startling me; I had been so caught up in my own head, I forgot he had come in with me.

 _"I'm sure you already know."_

 _"I don't want to intrude… I have not read your mind."_

I turned around to look at him; he was crouched down on all fours watching me attentively with concern in his eyes, _"I'm just thinking through things. Trying to get my thoughts together."_

 _"I made things worse, didn't I."_ He said with guilt.

 _"What can I say… we're all on edge."_

 _"But it was wrong of me to intervene how I did."_ Storm lifted his head until he hovered over me, _"I'm sorry. I know that hurting Shiro, hurts you… I wasn't thinking straight."_

I bit my lip, _"No one is thinking clearly, everyone is at fault here. This whole Lotor situation and then the rescue of Pidge's father plus the death of Zarkon has left a strain on us. We haven't had time to rest."_

 _"Perhaps we should do just that. Lay low for a couple of vargas to recuperate our strength and get our minds clear."_ Storm suggested.

A small smile appeared on my features, _"I think I'll take you up on that offer."_

 _"Then come on."_ Storm nodded his head toward the exit and began to make his way to it. I followed behind him until we came at a stop in front of my bedroom doors. We walked in and I went to remove my suit into my sleeping garments and ruffled my hair out of its usual up do massaging my scalp. I sat down crossed legged by the edge of my bed and Storm laid his head close to me.

We sat there in silence quieting our minds until Storm spoke up, _"Do you remember when we use to sleep on the terrace on summer nights?"_

 _"I do."_ I said with a smile, _"Looking at the stars until we couldn't keep our eyes open and being awakened by the rising daylight… those were peaceful times."_

 _"Our childhood was so simple"_ He commented with longing.

I chuckled, _"To us maybe, but being people who manipulate and create elements, in the eyes of others, were anything but simple."_

Stormed hummed in agreement and placed his snout close to my knee, touching it. I leaned back until my back laid on the bed and dangled my legs on the edge of it. I began to doze off looking up at the ceiling. As much as I wanted to stay alert, my body dragged me down to the depths of darkness letting sleep over take me. I was starting to get comfortable when the castle suddenly shook; I jolted up looking around my room.

 _"Did you hit something with your tail?"_ I asked; Storm tended to hit things with his tail when he was dreaming.

 _"No, it wasn't me. Maybe some of Hunk's cooking experiments failed…. Again. You know he should really stop mixing ingredients without figuring out their content."_

 _"You really think it was Hunk? That had to be something big to shake up the whole castle. I'm getting dresses."_

 _"So much for down time."_ He commented with disappointment.

I leaped off my bed and placed my Paladin armor clicking all the parts of the armor into their rightful place. I grabbed my Bayard and ran into the hallway toward the control room. Coran's voice came over the castle's speakers making me slow down to a trot, "Paladins! You need to get into your lions and assist Shiro. Something odd is happening outside." I turned back, running in the opposite direction toward my hangar.

 _"I'll come with you."_ Storm said falling in step with me.

I nodded my head and ran to my lion who opened her jaws for me, I placed my hand on her handles and began to move us toward the exit. We launched immediately meeting the other lions outside in formation.

"Shiro?" I asked over the comm, "Shiro, are you there?"

"I'm here in the forest." He grunted, "There is something that is growing out of it and is moving toward the city."

"We are on our way to assist you." I answered and moved my lion toward his coordinates.

When we arrived, there was a beast on the ground that looked like it was made from the vegetation around it.

 _"What is that thing?"_ Storm asked getting closer to the screen.

 _"I have no idea, but this must be the doing of the Galra."_

"Engage!" I ordered; we began to shoot our jaw lasers at the monster below giving Shiro the opportunity to get higher into the sky.

"Ryner, what are we looking at here?" Pidge asked; our lasers did not even damage its surface.

"I don't understand." Ryner answered, "That monster resembles one of our tree-mechs. It's as if the forest is being corrupted. "

"Must have something to do with whatever is emanating from the impact site!" Shiro added.

"It looks like some sort of invasive plasma." Pidge informed, "Coran, have my dad and brother analyze the data I'm sending!"

"On it." Coran responded.

The beast began to fire at us with its cannon it formed on its head; purple orbs flew in different directions. We took evasive maneuvers trying to get a decent shot at it.

"Hurry up team." Shiro ordered, "Let's form Voltron!"

We flew up in formation and our lions began to shift and transform into the parts of Voltron until we united and flew towards it. It was charging it cannon once again and I moved us to the side avoiding the shot.

"Shield up!" Shiro commanded.

Pidge brought the shield forward and I moved us faster down intercepting its energy orb; the force pushed the beast and us backward lifting up dirt into the air.

The monster growled loudly getting ready to fire once again.

"Let's finish him!" Shiro exclaimed.

"I can't move my leg, I mean, my Voltron leg!" Hunk said.

"Neither can I!" Allura added, "These vines are restricting our movements!"

"We can't let it trap us!" I exclaimed engaging the wing thrusters at full power, but the vines were just too strong.

"Pidge, can you get free?" Shiro asked.

"Negative." She responded, "They're everywhere."

"Red's stuck too!" Lance yelled.

"Taylin, do something!" Allura screamed.

I tried to concentrate on the vines around us trying to get the nature element to make them retreat but it wasn't working, something was shutting me out. The vegetation around us had a dark energy emanating from it; its signature was spreading through the forest rapidly not giving me the chance to stop it.

 _"The forest… its tainted. I can't seem to stop the vines from grasping us!"_

 _"I can feel it too."_ Storm said with aguish, _"But I can't help you with this, I'm not a nature Drako!"_

 _"It feels like the whole forest is intoxicated by whatever this is. The energy is vile quintessence…"_ I shock ran through my head breaking my connection to the vines. "I'm sorry I can't stop it. It's like the whole forest turned against me when I tried to remove the vines. It has a mind of its own!"

"Separate into lions!" Allura said, but the vines had already wrapped themselves tightly all over Voltron making it impossible to do so. They blinded us to what was happening before Voltron.

"We can't!" Shiro shot back, "We're seized up! Trapped."

"Wait." Hunk spoke up, "What's that sound?"

"It sounds like it's heading the other way." Shiro responded.

I gasped, "Its heading toward the city!"

"Ryner, is the ion cannon of yours operational?" Shiro asked.

"No, it's still not finished." She answered, "At best it could manage perhaps one shot."

"That will have to do." I said, "The beast is heading right towards you."

"Targeting." Ryner informed, "Cannon charged at thirty percent… Power at seventy percent. Target acquired!"

I grabbed my handles harder with anticipation, hoping that the ion cannon would be enough to destroy the beast.

"Power at ninety-five percent, prepare to fire! … No! We're losing power! What's happening? The ion cannon! All of our systems, they've been compromised."

My stomach dropped at her statement, the cannon had been our only hope of getting out of the vines; Storm growled in frustration.

"Matt! Dad! These vines…" Pidge called.

"They're like a computer virus." Matt said over the comm, "From the data you sent, it appears the plasma substance is self-replicating organic wetware. Which creates a single expanding system, giving it the ability to interface with nature the way the Olkari do."

"So, they found a way to hack the forest!" I stated, "I would be amazed it we weren't stuck in them." I pushed on my handles once again, but Voltron's hull resonated as the vines tightened even more.

"It's like a computer and a virus rolled into one." Pidge stated.

Suddenly we lost all communications and secondary power kicked in. The cooling system inside the lions shut off making the cockpit stuffy and hot.

"What are we gonna do?" Hunk asked panicking, "I can't move!"

"Listen!" Pidge exclaimed, "This virus is affecting Voltron on a sub-molecular level. To drive it out, we have to tap into the quantum energy that bonds us all to Voltron!"

"The Bayards!" Allura realized, "They amplify each Paladin's life force!"

"That's right!" I said with a hint of hope, "They might be able to provide enough energy to get rid of the virus attacking Voltron!"

"It's worth a shot!" Lance yelled.

A strong force suddenly started to pull us up, lifting off the ground and into the air.

"Something is pulling us up!" I yelled, "We need to connect to Voltron, now!"

"How do we do that?!" Hunk asked.

"Punch in your Bayards and concentrate on connecting with your lions." I instructed, "Mend your own quintessence with theirs's."

"I don't know if I can do that." He stated scared.

"I know you can." With that we punched in our Bayards to the slots bedside our pilot chairs and concentrated in mending our spirits with Voltron. I white light engulfed my cockpit blinding me, making me close my eyes. When I reopened them again, I stood in the middle of all the other Paladins. We were in a tunnel swirling with blue quintessence; the power I felt in here was immense, but there was something missing. In front of me, Shiro's form had not appeared. The purple plate on the energetic floor was empty, I called out his name worriedly. Soon everyone else began to do so as well until he suddenly appeared facing us. Beams of our Paladin colors shot up into the quintessence field connecting us to the power of Voltron. A white light wrapped around me and brought me back into my body, my lion's roar echoed in my cockpit as the insignia of Voltron powered on. A blast of energy shot out of each of the lions breaking us free from the cocoon the beast had wrapped us in.

"We're back!" Hunk cheered.

I looked up and saw a Galra cruiser, "We are inside their tractor beam!"

"Attack the cruiser!" Shiro ordered.

"What about that tree-beast?" Allura asked.

"Guys, we've got incoming!" Pidge warned.

A green beam hit the cruiser above us breaking us free from its grasp, I quickly activated the back boosters holding us up in the air. The ship exploded into a million pieces right in front of our eyes.

"Now, Voltron!" Ryner said over the comm, "You must stop the beast!"

"Let's finish this fight!" Shiro exclaimed.

We turned back to fly into the city as the monster's photon cannon was charging up ready to fire at the Olkari ion cannon. We intercepted the energy orb by summoning the shield and taking the impact on it. We flew back into action coming at the monster with speed and pushing it back away from the city; we yelled at the force of the impact.

We managed to move into a clearing, but it send tendrils out of its back that latched onto Voltron's feet, head, and the Green Lion arm.

"Pidge, what's it doing?" Shiro asked.

"The virus!" She answered, "It's trying to absorb Voltron!"

The monster began to pull us towards it.

"I can't see anything!" Hunk yelled.

"Any of the lions free?!" Shiro asked.

"It's got me!" Pidge retorted.

"Me, too!" Allura added.

The beast began to open it jaws powering a giant purple orb ready to obliterate us, "Lance, with me!" I yelled.

I summoned my Bayard and plugged it into my lion's dash board; Lance followed my lead without a word. An ion cannon appeared inside the Red Lions jaws and Lance blasted it inside it mouth causing a great explosion. When the light settled, the beast had been polarized into ash and the vines wrapped around the city desiccated.

The Olkari immediately began the clean-up of the city, sending out hover machines to pick up the dead vines. We stood in the middle of the aftermath, watching the sunset, on Voltron's shoulder. The sky glowed with golden rays of the setting star; it was breath taking. I removed my helmet and let the wind caress my face and hair, moving it about freely.

 _"I guess this is as much peace and quiet we're going to get."_ Storm commented from behind me.

 _"We must be ready for anything… always. Danger roams around every corner."_

I sighed and looked at the person in front of me; Shiro stood with his back to me, arms crossed watching the horizon.

 _"Will you talk to him? Or Are you still mad?"_ Storm asked.

 _"I let go of that feeling a while back."_ I said with a huff, _"No use of holding on to a grudge. I can't expect Shiro to think just like me… we are very different after all."_

 _"Indeed."_

Suddenly, a shadow appeared in the horizon. It seemed to be something with wings, flapping rapidly toward our location.

"What is that?" Lance asked standing up summoning his Bayard; the others got ready to run back into Voltron.

Lance formed his Bayard into a riffle aiming at the thing coming towards us.

 _"Is that a…."_ Storm began, _"Drako? But I was the only one here in Olkarion, how can that be?"_

I mended my mind to Storm's and looked through his eyes, allowing me to see a further distance.

 _"It's the tree Drako I created when we first arrived on Olkarion!"_ I said in realization.

 _"You did what?!"_ Storm looked down at me; I could see myself smiling up at him, the sun reflecting off my face. I placed my mind back into my own head and ran up to Lance lowering his weapon. "Don't shoot, he is not hostile."

The tree Drako came closer finally letting us see his features; to my surprise he actually looked bigger and his talons had become more defined. He came to a stop before us, sending gusts of wind with his wings as he hovered in place. The tree Drako inspected us with his glowing green eyes and cocked his head to the side when he noticed me giving a low growl as a greeting. I took a few steps towards the edge extending my right hand to it. It came a little closer and extended its brown barked neck putting his snout on my palm.

"Hey there little fellow." I greeted with a wide smile, "How have you been?"

He roared three times in enthusiasm as if answering my question, but then he turned his head slightly back giving a low whine.

I gazed were he pointed and looked at the destroyed forest understanding what he meant, "Oh, you lost your home?"

He shook his head up and down rapidly.

"Awe, he so cute." Allura commented interwinding her hands together.

"Yeah, I guess." Hunk said scratching his head.

Allura jumped off from where she been settled and came to stand beside me extending her hand toward the Drako who greeted her warmly as well. Allura laughed and petted his snout.

 _"This is fascinating."_ Storm said, _"And you created this using the Olkari interphase head bands?"_

 _"No, I simply connected my mind to the forest tryin' to summon a tree mech, but what appeared instead was this tree Drako."_

 _"Do you know what this means, Taylin? You can create a whole new race of Drakos out of the elements! Our race can come back!"_

I raised my hand, _"Slow down Storm, this is something that happened out of the blue. I had no control over what I was doing."_

 _"Well I'm sure you'll find a way with more practice. You have abilities far beyond any normal Drakie."_

"Does it have a name?" Allura asked breaking our mental conversation.

"Um, no." I responded verbally, "Never got the chance to name him."

"Oh, I got one." Lance said raising his hand; I nodded with my head for him to continue.

"Tree."

I lifted an eyebrow with an unamused expression, "Really Lance, Tree. That's the best you can come up with?"

"Well he is made of a tree and well, he sort of looks like one."

I touched my chin deep in thought trying to come up with something that would match the Drako perfectly, until it popped into my head, "Adair."

The tree Drako looked at me with its intense green eyes for a few ticks until it roared in approval and looped in the air a couple of times.

"He seems to like that name." Allura commented with a grin.

"Then Adair it is." I chuckled.

Adair looked big enough to carry someone on his back, he was not as big of Storm of course, but he seemed to have the strength in his wings. In comparison with my own Drako, Adair did not seem to have the ability to change his size, and if Storm wanted to be his full height, he would be as tall as a medium size building.

I looked over the edge of Voltron seeing the great height that separated us from the ground. A thrill went through my body and my heart began to pump faster with adrenaline. "Allura, do you trust me?" I asked.

Allura looked at me from a side view confused, "You know I do, Taylin. Why do you ask?" I extended my hand to her and she hesitated, "No, I know what you're planning, and I will not do it."

I shrugged, "Suit yourself." Taking a few steps back, I crouched down into a running position and ran to the edge jumping off. I heard Lance and Hunk gasp loudly and Storm take flight behind me. Adair followed me and rushed down below me and caught me on his back. He began to flap his wings rapidly shooting us back into the sky, but the way he flipped and turned made me hold on tightly to his neck. It was to be expected, he was untrained.

"Wow!" I yelled when he suddenly swooped down to the destroyed forest and glided over the few trees that were still standing. I felt how someone grasped my body and pull me off Adair's backs.

 _"That's enough of that."_ Storm said as he brought me closer to his neck for me to grab and climb onto his back.

 _"We weren't always that perfect at flying together."_ I said with laugh.

 _"Yeah, but we had someone trained watching us during our practices. I remember when we first rode together, I dove, and you went flying off my back. I think Negetia whole heard you scream."_

 _"Hey! It was my first time!"_ I shot back with amusement, _"If you hadn't humped your back so much, I wouldn't have flown off."_

 _"I did not hump my back."_ He said indignantly, _"You just… happened to catch a wind current underneath you."_

 _"That doesn't make any sense."_

 _"A wind Drako blew at you?"_

 _"Pfft, please."_

Storm began to laugh, and I joined him out loud until my stomach hurt, _"Take me back to Voltron, the others are waiting for me to disband it and head back to the castle."_

Storm banked left returning to the towering titan and the small forms that stood on its shoulder. He landed briefly on Voltron's head and lowered me down to the others with his tail wrapped around my waist.

 _"I will join you later. I'm going to help Adair find a new home."_ Storm said pointing his talon at the flying tree Drakie, _"I noticed some caves not too far from the forest, perhaps I can relocate him there."_

I nodded my head with a smile and waved at him as he took flight and joined Adair into the sky. The smaller Drako followed him closely looping around him playfully.

We disbanded back into lions and head back into the castle, I landed White in her hangar and exited through her jaws. As soon as I stepped out, she sat down on her hind legs, her eyes powering off. I walked into the hallway content with myself with the victory over the vine creature and finding out about the tree Drako. My pace was slow, I still felt like I was in sky on Storm's back, remembering our childhood. My trip back to my room took longer than expected but I did not mind. I was so caught up on my own thoughts I jumped in fright when someone pulled me into a dark room; I relaxed when the light turned on revealing Shiro.

I sighed in relief, "What are you doing sneaking around like that? I almost jumped out my skin."

"Sorry." He apologized scratching his head, "I wanted to get you alone, but I didn't know if you want to talk to me after what happened."

I crossed my arms and cocked my head to the side as a sign for him to continue.

"Look, Taylin. I'm very sorry for losing my temper like that. I don't know what came over me. So many things have been happening at once… but that no excuse for treating the way I did. I deserve what Storm did to me and in a way, I'm grateful to him for stopping me from saying anything I would regret…. I'm very sorry." His eyes reflected sincerity and sadness; he looked down at the floor not being able to hold my gaze, "I understand if you can't forgive me right now or if you need some space."

A small smile slowly grew on my face, "I forgive you."

Shiro lifted his head quickly looking at me with a bit of shock, "Really?"

I took small steps toward him, "I actually forgave you a couple of doboshes later. I'm not one to hold a grudge." I came to a stop an placed my hands on his shoulders, "I know it must not be easy leading Voltron with everything that's been going on lately. Lotor's turn to the light side has everyone of edge, specially today. The Galra orchestrated the attack on Olkarion, we must move with caution."

Shiro enclosed me inside his arms brining close to his chest and resting his head on top of mine, "I love you." He whispered.

I buried my face deeper into his chest, "Not as much as I love you."

Shiro lifted his head and kissed the top of my hair.

Lotor, hearing what happened on Olkarion, came rushing back and called an emergency meeting on the bridge of the castle. I really hoped he had nothing to do with the attack or else I don't know what we would do. Attacking the coalition home world had been a bold move.

Lotor stood with his back to us when we entered, he turned around when he heard the sound of our footsteps. He did not waste any time and got straight to business, "I'm very sorry about the attack that happened earlier. Please know that I had nothing to do with it."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "I sincerely hope not."

"Believe me, Queen Fireheart. I would gain nothing by attacking this planet and Voltron. Brankon's wanton attack was only the beginning. Without an emperor, more and more high-ranking officials will start lashing out and consolidating their power at the Kral Zera."

"Uh, juts gonna jump in here." Hunk butted in, "What exactly is the Kral Zera?" He placed his hands together, "Is there food there? It sounds awfully fancy."

We all looked at him blankly; Hunk always managed to bring food into a conversation.

"It's the coronation ceremony for a new emperor or empress." Lotor answered, "It's held on one of the first planets we, the Galra, conquered. Planet Feyiv, a sacred land."

"So, it's not passed down from father to child?" I asked curiously.

"No, even though I'm the rightful heir to the throne. I must claim my place as emperor or risk losing the throne to someone else. If another is placed in Zarkon's place, they will surely follow his ruthless methods and we would be back to square one."

"Okay, so who all will be at this Kral Zera?" Shiro asked.

"Allow me to show you." Lotor answered turning around to face Coran, but quickly remembered he was asking the wrong person, "May I, Princess?"

"Go ahead." Allura complied.

Coran stepped aside and Lotor began to type rapidly on the control panel brining up images of a ruthless looking Galra, "Warlord Ranveig is one of the fiercest Galra in the empire. That's why my father sent him to the fringes of the universe. He will already have several factions pledging their allegiance."

"War lord, huh?" Lance retorted with his arms crossed, "I'm guessing you don't get that title by being nice."

Another image popped up, this one was a female, "Commander Gnov was one of Zarkon's most trusted advisors. She will be unifying Zarkon's inner circle of commanders. They know they'll get with her. She's not as reckless as warlord Ranveig, but she's just as cruel."

"A woman with a mind, even more dangerous." I commented placing a hand on my hip.

Lotor moved on and a chubby looking Galra appeared with some type of lenses on his eyes, he held a data pad, "Quartermaster Janka. He is responsible for overseeing supply routes throughout the empire. Don't let his stature fool you. His power is bureaucracy and he should not be underestimated. He keeps popping up in my database."

"His supply chain management is incredible. He definitely color codes." Pidge remarked with a small smile.

"So, organized evil. Okay." Hunk added.

 _"Well, I'd be more worried about him body slamming someone with that stomach."_ Storm snickered; I hit him with my elbow.

"And, finally, Zarkon's witch Haggar." Lotor said getting our attention back; she appeared on the main screen with her typical cloak over her head, obscuring her face and body. She was the one I most hated; Haggar aided in the demise of my mother and the torture I endured during my stay in the Galra prison. I was going to get my hands on her and shove her into the next dimension.

"We've met." Shiro said.

"She's most dangerous of them all." Lotor continued, "Because she's not Galra, and therefore not eligible to rule, she probably has a puppet already. Someone she can control and manipulate. If the Galra were smart, they'd be working together against her. If Haggar's puppet takes over, then stopping Zarkon's reign will all have been for naught."

"Then we can't risk any of them assuming control." Shiro stated; he turned around to face us, "We should help Lotor take command of the Galra Empire."

"Shiro, we've already discussed this." Allura said, "It's far too risky."

Lance came to stand beside her with his back hunched a bit, "Yeah, why don't we let them fight amongst themselves a while before we do anything?"

Allura gave him a glare not liking his idea.

"You know what we went through on Olkarion, that was just one rogue commander vying for the throne." Shiro retorted, "When the Galra lash out everyone in the universe suffers."

"How would we even get Lotor there without stirring up a huge fight?" Pidge asked.

"I'll be brining Voltron." Lotor said with confidence.

"And who gave you the authority to command us around?" I said with a frown, "The moment they see us, a fight will be inevitable. We will be facing some of the fiercest Galra generals, you said so yourself."

"Yeah, because Voltron never gets in fights." Hunk added.

"Shiro, we can't allow that to happen." Allura stated.

Shiro looked at us for a few ticks thinking over our words until he turned away with a frown, "I'm sorry to hear that." He walked away. I turned to watch him go confused at his actions; I was beginning to feel worried about him.

"Uh, what's up with Shiro?" Hunk asked.

"I don't know." I spoke up, "He was been acting like this for a couple of days now."

"We are one big happy family." Pidge said sarcastically.

"I just hope he doesn't do anything stupid." I said worriedly; in his state any decision would seem right.

Shiro seemed to be pulling away from the team and most importantly, me. He was missing in the dining hall, when I knocked on his door he never answered and when I did see him, he would barge into the closes room avoiding me. I wanted to think that he was doing all these to prevent another fight, but the distance that was growing between us left me with a hollow heart. No couple was perfect, but I had no idea how to proceed. Mother was not here to teach me how to deal with obstacles is a relationship. I wanted to find the darkest place in the castle and cry in a corner. Allura tried to help me by telling me everything would be fine, but it was clear on her face she did not know that herself. I could not ask her for advice, because like me, she never experience love the way I feel for Shiro. My concentration, since I began to manifest my first few elements, had been to train to control them and learn to defend myself. After the war escalated, I joined the war and it had been battle after battle with no chance to really bond with anyone but my fellow warriors. I shot down a couple of offers that professed love to me, one of them being from a member of my Elite Guard, Marel; who really had no intention of hiding it since the first time we met, but it was I who decided to keep our relationship professional. Marel, being kind hearted, accept my offer of just friendship but I remembered the look of disappointment in his eyes even though he tried to hide it.

I sat by myself in dining hall playing with my food; I had no appetite, not even force feeding helped. I was just finishing making another green goo hill on my plate when Allura voice rang on the castle speakers making me launch a spoon full at the wall, "All Paladins report to your lions! Shiro has left the castle!"

"Wait, what?!" I exclaimed standing up abruptly nocking my chair over. I ran to my room to get my Paladin armor, place the underneath fabric and put the other pieces in place as I ran to my lion's hangar. I got to my pilot's chair and moved to the launching platform, "Is everyone in their lions?"

"Just got in." Hunk commented.

"Me too." Lance added.

"Ready for launch." Allura said.

"Ready." Pidge voiced.

"Launch!" I ordered, the tunnel passed by in a blur until we were in the vastness of space, "We have to get Shiro out of whatever mess he got into."

"He is probably on Feyiv attending the Kral Zera since Lotor was missing as well." Allura commented.

"Then let's plot a course there." I said, "Coran open up a wormhole, we need to get there as fast as we can. By this time, the Galra must be lunging at each other's necks."

"Right away, your highness."

Coran opened the blue vortex and we moved in passing through the colorful tunnel, when we exited, we were met with a big fire fight; the Black Lion flew past us evading some fighters.

"Looks like you could use some help!" Lance exclaimed shooting down a couple of fighters.

"We got your back, Shiro!" Hunk added.

"You and I are gonna have a talk after this." I said grimly; Shiro said nothing about it, but I was sure he heard me.

"Oh, you're in so much trouble." Lance snickered.

"Okay, team. Let's form Voltron!" Shiro ordered, choosing to ignore Lance. We joined him in the sky and began to transform our lions until Voltron was formed. We quickly jumped into action slicing two Galra cruisers with our sword and taking down multiple boogies with the shoulder cannon. The lasers split into dozens of smaller ones illuminating the dark sky as they hit their targets, finishing the fight.

We landed behind the altar were Lotor slowly ascended with a torch lit with purple fire. He walked up to the pillar and ignited its center with the torch's fire. A Galra standing behind Lotor bowed down with his head to the ground and ordered the rest of the Galra below to do the same. One by one, they reluctantly followed orders getting down on one knee and placing a fist to their chest in reverence.

I had mixed feelings of all of this. We had finally managed to place Lotor on the throne, but everything came with a price.

* * *

Hey Everyone.

Thanks for all the lovely comments I bean getting I love you all!


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

Power Within

Everyone was silent heading back to the castle; Lotor had taken a ride with one of the Galra commanders back to, now his, central command. We would meet him there later to go over our next few steps in reestablishing peace throughout the empire without the use of force. I highly doubted there would be no resistance, some Galra generals did not agree with the placement of Lotor. If you asked me, they wanted him dead, but they remained in his ranks afraid to lose their posts.

Back in the castle, I headed to the Black Lion's hangar ready to confront Shiro on his attitude lately; I was not going to be ignored. He can't expect for us to be promised to each other and then give me the cold shoulder. Shiro had kept me at a distance for the past two days because he knew I could read him like a book. I would have never allowed him to continue with the plan of taking Lotor to the Kral Zera on his own without back up. I, in some way, had met my match; someone who was as stubborn as me.

I walked into the hangar just as he was walking down the ramp of the Black Lion's jaws, removing his helmet. He noticed me mid-way and automatically turned around to head back into the lion's head.

"Oh, no you don't." I called after time, "Come back here, Takashi Shirogane!" I ran after him and caught up in the Black Lion's cargo area, he stood with his back to me looking down at his helmet."You really got some nerve to run away from me."

"I think I rather face the Galra than an angry girlfriend." He stated turning around slowly with a nervous smile; a drop of sweat trailed down from his hair line.

I crossed my arms narrowing my eyes at him, "So you were planning to avoid me? Come on Shiro, we live in the same castle, I sit right behind you in the control room, we pilot Voltron together, for heaven's sake our rooms are across from each other. There is no way you could avoid me for long."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I just did not want to hurt you with the decisions I was making… It seems all I do these past few days is apologize."

I looked down at the ground with a sigh before gazing up at him again, "If we are going to make this work, Shiro, we need to be able to confide in each other. It's not that I think you are inadequate to lead Voltron… you have led us thus far. Without you, this team wouldn't work, but that's the thing, we are a team and as such, we have to make decisions together. Much like you came with me to Negetia to retrieve Storm's armor, do you really believe I would let you face cruel Galra generals all by yourself?" I walked up to him placing my hands on top of his helmet, "You don't have to take decisions alone. I am here for you whenever you need me. I'm not going to step out on you either, I care about you too much. You are someone I look forward to seeing everyday… to feel your arms around me means the world to me. One simple kiss from you sends a spark of energy throughout my body that I didn't even think possible. I love you Shiro. You mean the whole universe to me… I need you like the very air I breath." A tear slipped out of my right eye and slid down slowly to my cheek, "Let me fight beside you and confront any problem that comes our way…"

Shiro reached out to wipe the tear stain and leaned down a bit to place a kiss to my forehead, "I truly am sorry for leaving you in the dark. I promise things will be different from now on. This whole war will soon come to an end and we can finally live our lives in peace." He took my face in both his hands, letting his helmet drop to the side, and planted a soft kiss to my lips, leaving them there for a few ticks just enjoying each other's closeness. I closed my eyes and all around me I could feel his presence; his life-force surrounded me, embraced me, as if our souls inter-winded to become one. I heard him whisper my name with such longing that I couldn't help to move closer; it sounded sweet and distant, yet I heard it clear as a bell. He was my sun; I gravitated toward him on instinct much like a moon around a planet.

We pulled apart and gazed into each other's eyes and a smile slowly grew on our faces until they became wide grins.

"We bicker like an old married couple." He said with a chuckle.

"And were not even married yet." I added with a laugh.

"Well if it were up to me, I would marry you right here, this very moment."

A loud metal cracking noise resonated in the cargo hold making us look around, but we could not spot the source. I took his hand and pulled him along, "Let's go, the Black Lion is probably tired of hearing you squabble like the old man you are."

"I am not that old, I'm only twenty-five." He protested but let me pull him out of the Black Lion without problem. "You're the old lady here."

I turned around to face him when we stepped out and smacked his shoulder playfully, "I might have slept for ten-thousand years but I'm technically twenty-two Drakie years for your information, but with the time dilation between Earth and Negetia, I might be at least a year younger? Um, I don't know never looked it up."

"So, your ten-thousand twenty-two years old. Go it." He joked.

"Ha, ha, very funny." I mocked.

Shiro laughed and placed an arm over my shoulders bringing me close to his side as we walked.

Sam Holt had decided to head back to planet Earth to prepare and warn them about the Galra. It looked like a hard decision he had to make, pulling himself from his children has proven more difficult than he could have ever imagined.

"We're going to miss you, sir." Shiro stated.

"Ah, you guys seem to be fine without me." Sam pointed out; he had a back pack strapped to his shoulder with a few of his belongings and still wore the Olkari outfit, "Your mission is here. Mine is on Earth. A soon as I get back, I'll inform the Galaxy Garrison what's going on and start working to upgrade out planetary defenses."

"Tell Iverson, the next time I see him, I'm going to kick his butt for strapping me to that table." Shiro joked lifting his left fist up.

Sam chuckled, "I'll be sure to tell him that."

"Hey, I had everyone record some messages for our families." Hunk said gaining Sam's attention; he held a small storage unit in his hands, "Uh, a little heads up, I got teary in mine, so… that's Mom's eyes only."

"Of course." Sam responded with a smile taking the device from him.

Hunk scooted over to Lance pointing at him, "You don't wanna see Lance's, either, since its probably just a love message to Jenny Shaybon or the other Jenny. What was her name?"

Lance looked at him annoyed with a hand in his pocket, "Shut up, Hunk!" He turned away from him and crossed his arms with a grim expression.

"Okay, I was just joking around. Jeez." Hunk retorted taken back by his attitude, "Hey, are you okay, dude?"

"I'm fine. It's just… Once I started thinking about going back to Earth, I… I started missing my mom and my brother Marco and my brother Luis and my sister Veronica." His voiced cracked at the mention of their names, "and my grandma and…" Lance turned his head away wiping a few tears with his forearm and sniffled.

"Um, are you crying?" Hunk asked.

"No!" Lance shot back but continued to sniffle; He sighed, "I just got space dust in my eyes. It's very dusty in here."

"Awe, Lance." I said placing a hand on his shoulders, he humped over with more tears, "It's alright to show emotion. You miss you family, that's understandable."

He wiped his face, "Thanks, Tay."

"I guess this is it." Sam said sadly.

"I wish I could come with you." Matt uttered, "I'd love to help build Earth's first galactic defense system."

"I'm worried we won't have enough time and resources to make a dent before we need it." Sam voiced with worry.

Pidge looked down at the floor in thought before gazing up at her father with a smile, "A wise man once told me, 'If you get worried about what could go wrong, you might miss your chance to do something great.'"

A smile grew on Sam's face, "Sounds like a wise man indeed." He turned to look at his son, "Matt, you be careful on the front lines. And, Pidge, keep an eye on your brother for me."

"You got it, Dad." Pidge replied with confidence.

Sam began to whimper, and his eyes watered looking down at his two children before he lunged at them taking them both into his arms tightly, "I love you both so much."

"We love you too, Dad." They said in unison hugging him back.

Lance, Coran, and Hunk stood beside me hugging each other with emotional expressions.

"There is a lot of space dust in here." Hunk commented wiping a tear with his finger.

Coran wailed sliding down a bit, snot coming out of his nostrils, "It's filthy!"

I couldn't help to get misty eyed at the farewell between the three. It moved me how Sam cared so much about his children and the way he had so much confidence in them made me want to hug them all. There was no greater gift that having a father who believed in you; it made me miss my own.

Allura placed a hand on my shoulder and I side hugged her tightly.

Sam let Pidge and Matt go reluctantly and climbed into the pod.

"Take care of yourself, Sam." I said with a wave, "Hope to see you soon."

He nodded with a half-smile and activated the pod; the black screen covered the front and it began to lift off. We headed back into the control room to see him leave as Allura opened a wormhole for him to pass through. Pidge and Matt watched from the front with sad smiles.

"We must be heading to the Galra central command soon." Allura said from her platform, "We need to meet with Lotor as soon as possible."

We nodded and went to sit in our places ready to set a course to central command. Coran typed the coordinates in his control panel and Allura closed her eyes materializing another wormhole before us and moving the castle through. On the other side stood Zarkon's mighty ship, one that we planned to have destroyed not too long ago and now it was welcoming us into its fold.

"Can't believe we're flying into the belly of the beast." Lance commented.

"Yeah, it feels strange to come here after we spend so much time running away from this very ship." I said examining it.

"Mhm, and now were working with them." Hunk added.

"We have to do everything we can to support Lotor." Allura stated, "This is our chance to promote a new era of peace."

The Galra provided instructions as we approached and guided us to the ship dock which connected a bridge to the castle's entrance where we would pass through to board. A soldier led us to the throne room and when it opened, sentries stood at attention on each side of the walk way. The room was massive with the usual purple tint of the Galra. A flight of stairs decorated the end of the path leading to the throne where purple and yellow banners hung. Lotor waited for us by the stairs with his hands behind his back and two sentries guarding each side. We began our stroll down the aisle and I could not help but to have my hand hover over the area where I stored my Bayard. The sentries watched us unmoving with their hands down, unarmed.

"Thank you for coming, friends." Lotor greeted as we neared, "I have prepared a new imperial banner to herald our alliance. This is the same symbol that flew over our fathers when they worked together as the original Paladins of Voltron. I hope that we can return the universe to that golden age."

 _"I remember that symbol clearly."_ Storm commented gazing up at it.

"Since I ascended to the throne, the Galra Empire has been torn apart." Lotor continued, "A sizable portion has sworn its allegiance to me. However, massive factions remain in revolt."

"Uh, okay, the Galra aren't exactly known to turn the other cheek." Hunk voiced.

"They're more likely to swing the other fist." Lance added.

"How do you get an empire that's only known violence for thousands of years to put down their weapons?" Shiro asked.

"By providing them with the very thing they're fighting for." Lotor responded, "Quintessence. Unlimited amounts of it. And, Allura, you are the key to getting it."

"Wait, hold up." I interrupted, "What do you mean Allura is the key to everything? And how do you suppose we get unlimited amount of quintessence without ripping the fabric of space and time?"

"I have a plan already in motion to getting just that. I have spent decades studying the possibility of having unlimited energy, and I believe we are one step closer with Allura's help since she has a deep connection to the quintessence field." Lotor said with a smile, "Now, I'm sure you'll be interested in inspecting every aspect of the Galra headquarters."

"I'd like to cross-reference our star charts with current Galra troop locations." Shiro spoke up.

"Consider it done." Lotor agreed.

"You want to sync our intelligence to the Galra headquarters?" Coran asked, "Oh, I never thought I'd see the quiznaking quintant."

"Sentry, take them to the record room." Lotor ordered, "You will find everything you need there."

Shiro and Coran followed the sentry, leaving us behind.

"I'm leaving you a personal escort that will take you wherever you'd like to go." Lotor said to us, "Come, Princess. There is much work to be done."

Lance tried to follow after them, but one of the sentries stopped him with one hand and as much as he pushed against it, it would not budge.

"So, we're free to roam around Galra HQ and have some fun?" Hunk asked the sentry.

"What is fun?" It asked in a robotic voice.

"You're about to find out." Lance said with a smirk.

"Well, Storm and I are just going to wonder the halls until we find something interesting." I said moving towards the exit of the throne room, I look back at them pointing a finger, "Behave."

"Oh, we will." Lance uttered, his smirk growing wider.

I shook my head and walked into the hallway, _"Those three are going to get in so many kinds of trouble."_

 _"Let them have their fun, at least they'll be ruining the Galra's ship, not ours."_ Storm retorted.

 _"True. Now where should we head to?"_

 _"Let's ask our metal friend."_ Storm nudged it with his snout.

"Sentry, take us to the observatory of the ship." I ordered the first thing that popped into my head.

"Right this way." It answered and took the lead guiding us in a maze of hallways. Galra who walked around doing their jobs, looked at us as we passed, some with amazement and others with fright when they noticed Storm towering behind me. A few doboshes later, the sentry stopped in front of a set of decorative doors; there surface engraved with drawings of stars. It placed it's hand on the control pad, opening the doors for us and motioned with its hand for us to go in. I gasped taking in the scenery, it was at least four times bigger than the castle's, all around the room a line of magenta light illuminated the darkness. The windows extended twenty feet high and the floor was see-through. Storm's talons clanked quietly on the glass floor as he gazed around.

 _"Wow, this place is amazing."_ Storm uttered.

"Sentry, what else can this room do?" I asked looking at it behind us.

"The Galra observatory is capable of creating illusion sceneries to that of your choosing."

 _"Oh, that sounds awesome!"_ Stormed perked up.

"Where do I activate it?"

"Simply place your hand on the glass before you and think of a scenery of your choosing."

I moved closer to the glass window and placed my right hand on its surface closing me eyes and thinking of our secret meadow back on Negetia. When I reopened my eyes, it was like we were actually there. The trees created a perfect circle around us, the ground was filled with beautiful flowers of so many different colors, the sky so blue signaling it was high noon, and lastly the small stream that trailed by the edge of the meadow. I could smell the flowers and hear the water follow its course downstream.

"I never thought I would set eyes on this place ever again." I muttered under my breath.

 _"It's as beautiful as I remember it… Our hideaway from our responsibilities."_ Storm said with longing.

I reached down to touch one of the delicate petals of a flower near my foot. Everything felt so real like a dream one could not wake up from. Something that I longed for in my heart for the longest of time. How could a place so precious be wiped from existence? No other being could enjoy the fragrance of the Morning Quinetium flowers; their petals perfectly shaped into hearts, a work of art by the hands of the universe. Races fall and rise as time passed, but I never imagined that mine, one day, would come to an end. Negetia had so much to show other worlds, to share our knowledge with younger beings brought a deep satisfaction. We might have been a proud race, but we did not deserve extinction. To open your eyes and see everything you have ever known gone, hurt unfathomably to the core. How I would have loved to show the other Paladins my home world; to show Shiro the place I was born in.

Running under the golden rays of our sun and wetting our feet with the dew of dawn, jumping and laughing in the mysterious forest of the nature clan, feeling the warmth of the torches lit by the sacred fire of our hands, and freezing our noses as the frost Drakies blew snow from the north. The Helma mountains watched over the main citadel like sentinels. My world was full of wonder and left any one enchanted with its breath-taking sights.

Storm laid down on the meadow floor, rolling from one end to the other lifting up petals and strands of grass with the roughness of his scales. His laugh echoed throughout the forest. I ran to him and lunged at his neck joining him with content. He stopped rolling, on his back, to look at the sky. The clouds moved with the soft breeze of the afternoon.

He and I were having the moment of our lives, ironically, on a Galra ship. An enemy we swore to destroy was looking less menacing by the tick. Perhaps there was room for redemption. Everyone deserved a second chance and I was willing to give it to Lotor. Seeing my planet, even if it was only a mirage, had opened a new perspective. Storm and I could have been eradicated thousands of years ago, but we were given a second chance; an opportunity to live. Maybe one day the Galra's doing would all be put in the past with all the good they will be doing alongside us; it would be like faded snapshots and forgotten dreams. A fresh start for the whole universe was just at the reach of our finger tips and I would not let the opportunity slip away. The time was now to make a change and be changed, reformed into something greater.

We lost track of time basking in the glorious meadow of our childhood, clinging to one another like two pieces of a puzzle, but all good things must come to an end, we had forgotten about the Galra sentry watching our every move.

 _"You're still here buddy."_ Storm said annoyed, _"You should launch into space."_

I stood up and the scenery before us faded into black until only the twinkling of the stars outside with the Galra fleet were once again present.

"Take us back to the other Paladins." I ordered.

The sentry followed orders without uttering a sound and moved to exit the room. We followed it the lower hangar where Pidge, Lance, and Hunk stood watching a giant ship on the launch tunnel; they had some purple sweets in their mouths. They saw us coming and waved at us enthusiastically, I smiled as we approached until I noticed Lance's face, "Wow, what happened to you?"

"I sort of rammed into the sentry while riding on a Galra soldier's shoulders." Lance said like it was no big deal.

 _"Sort of? More like did."_ Storm voiced moving his head closer to Lance's face.

"Come on guys! Let's do this!" A robotic voice yelled from the launching tunnel.

We turned to look at a Galra sentry attached to the giant ship we noticed earlier.

"Why is there a sentry attached to a ship?" I asked confused, Pidge lifted a finger about to answer but I covered her mouth, "You know what, I don't want to know."

"Are you sure about this?" Hunk asked the sentry over the speakers.

"We've been over this already." The sentry stated, "Let's light this candle. Whoo!"

Storm laughed at its choice of words, clearly enjoying what was in front of him; I bit my lip to hide my smile. I did not want to encourage the others.

"Do you think Lotor would mind us firing the robeast coffin?" Hunk asked.

"I think he would mind." I noted crossing my arms, "That's just simply a waste of resources."

"Come on, I've always wanted to see the stars." The sentry called out.

"And you will." Lance said and pressed the launch button on the control panel igniting the ship and launching it out into space in a matter of ticks.

"Later, pala-dudes!" The sentry yelled in its monotone voice, "Whee!"

The trio ran to the edge of the hangar to see the ship fly through the darkness of space. It left a trail of bright sparkling purple dust.

"That's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Pidge voiced.

"He's my hero." Lance stated placing his hands on the glass.

Hunk began to cry and saluted the sentry as it disappeared into space; Pidge and Lance followed his lead.

I looked at the three and chuckled at their dramatic expressions, even the two Galra soldiers behind us had tears in their eyes.

"It seems you all had fun today." I said with a smile.

"Yeah, I never thought running around the Galra central command would be so much fun." Pidge declared raising her arms and jumping up and down.

 _"We had a good time too."_ Storm expressed with content.

"We should do it all over again!" Lance suddenly exclaimed.

"Um, I think you three caused enough mischief for one day." I stated rising an eyebrow.

"Oh, come on." Lance said sagging his arms and coming to stand near me, "We still have so much to explore."

I poked his forehead where he had a white bandage over it, he winced and stepped back, "Maybe some other time."

"Paladins, head back to the castle." Allura said over our comms, "We are heading out."

"On our way, Allura." I responded and headed back the opposite way with the other Paladins in tow. The two Galra soldiers waved at us as we disappeared into the castle and we made our way to the control room where Allura was already waiting for us with Lotor. We formed a circle when Allura showed us a narrow stone with a glowing center.

"What is that?" I asked; the moment I set eyes on it, my powers picked up on its energy.

"It is a map that will guide us to a lost world." Allura stated with a smile.

I scratched the side of my face softly trying to remember any stories about such world.

"So, this magic rock is gonna guide us to a mysterious planet?" Pidge asked in disbelieve.

"A land known as Oriande." Lotor spoke up.

Coran chuckled with his arms crossed, "I'm afraid someone's been ruggling your wimble, Prince Lotor. Oriande is just an Altean folktale. It doesn't actually exist."

"That's what I thought, Coran." Allura retorted, "But now, I have a feeling it is quite real."

"It is the birthplace of all Altean alchemy." Lotor explained, "The place where King Alfor learned the secrets that helped him create Voltron and where Allura will master those same secrets so that my ships may enter the quintessence field."

"And what makes you the authority on crazy Altean nonsense?" Lance asked annoyed, "Coran knows more magic made-up gobbledygook than anyone I've ever met."

"Thank you, Lance." Coran said feeling proud of himself, "And I can assure you, King Alfor never mentioned anything to me about traveling to Oriande."

"In all likelihood, he kept it a secret from everyone." Lotor said, "I have been researching Oriande for centuries, hoping to learn more about my Altean ancestry. Over time, I've managed to gather evidence from all over the universe that hinted at its existence. Now, thanks to Princess Allura, I will finally gaze upon its magnificence with my own eyes."

Allura began to look at Lotor with a small smile; the eyes she was giving him did not escape my notice.

Hunk raised his hand, "Uh, aren't you a little busy running your empire to take a magical vacation?"

"In order to transition the Galra Empire to a peaceful existence, I need to open up a pathway to the quintessence field. Once my people have access to unlimited energy, the old ways of the empire will be behind them." Lotor answered.

"If this voyage is successful, the universe will finally be on the path to peace." Allura added.

"At this point I would try anything to stop this war." I spoke up, "The universe needs a breather and if going to Oriande will get us that, I won't object."

"Well, let's find out where we're going." Shiro said with determination.

The castle's crystal glowed a light blue opening a hologram of the universe; the stone in Allura's hands also began to glow as it connected to the castle bringing up the coordinates to the mystery planet.

"There, between those three celestial bodies." Allura pointed out, "That's where we're headed."

"Wait a tick, that's the Patrulian Zone." Coran said.

"Is there a problem, Coran?" I asked.

"The Patrulian Zone is a mysterious part of space where ships enter and are never heard from again." He explained; Coran faced Allura, "Princess, that area had been deemed unsafe to navigate for ages."

"The perfect place to hide a magical world." Lotor retorted.

"Something very strong and powerful must dwell there, Lotor might have point." I said brushing my chin in thought.

"Or to crash and die." Pidge voiced crossing her arms.

Allura looked at the map with an unwavering face, "We will approach with caution. Prepare our course, Coran."

Coran looked at her dumfounded for a slight moment before giving in to her orders, "Yes, Princess."

Coran moved to his control panel and inputted the coordinates into the castle's navigation system. Allura stood on her platform, placing her hands on the control, and opening a wormhole moving the castle to the location the stone provided. Upon exiting, we were met with with a graveyard of ships. Parts scattered through the darkness of space floating in silence for who knew how long.

"We're approaching the Patrulian Zone." Coran informed.

"What's that up ahead?" Shiro asked, "An asteroid belt?"

"No." Coran answered, "Its a graveyard." He confirmed my fear; my eyes were not deceiving me.

"What caused them all to lose power?" Hunk asked softly.

"No one knows." Coran answered in the same manner.

"I think we just found out." Pidge stated analyzing her screens.

As the castle flew over some tattered ships, a bright light suddenly appeared in the horizon. It illuminated everything in its path with a luminescent white; it almost looked like a twister made of light.

"How is this possible?" I gasped.

"Is that some kind of super massive star?" Lance asked standing up from his seat.

"No. Unbelievable!" Pidge said fascinated, "It's a white hole!"

"Whoa! Take that, theoretical physics!" Hunk exclaimed.

 _"The opposite of a black hole… who would have thought something like this existed."_ Storm said without breaking his gaze away.

"Wait, what's a white hole?" Lance asked confused.

"Well, unlike a black hole, which had massive gravity that sucks everything in, a white hole is an opposite body that shoots massive amounts of energy out from an unknown source." Pidge explained.

"It's blasting this whole area with crazy high radiation." Hunk added.

"No kidding, I can feel the energy all around us." I breathed, "It's so massive… its fascinating."

"The energy must've fried those ships' systems." Shiro said from his seat.

"The wise stand back from the fire, fools are burned on the pyre." Lotor recited, "The mystic becomes one with the flame, the embers and he are the same."

"Is that, like, a song you're working on?" Lance asked him unfazed, "Cause it sucks."

"It's a poem by an ancient Altean alchemist." Lotor corrected, "I discovered it carved next to a cave waiting of a fiery sphere. I never realized until now that it described the route to Oriande." He turned to look at Allura, "We must go into the white hole."

"Are you guys serious?" Hunk asked nervously raising his hand and standing up, "We're navigating by cave poetry now?"

"How are we to go through the white hole?" Pidge asked, "If we get closer, we're gonna end up like those dead ships there."

"The power surging through this area will tear us apart as soon as we enter its horizon event." I stated looking back at Lotor.

"We wormhole inside." Allura said after being quiet for most of the conversation.

Everyone turned to look back at her shocked.

"Princess, no!" Coran exclaimed.

"Voltron can withstand forces other ships cannot." Allura stated sternly.

"Are you sure?" Shiro asked jumping out of his seat.

"If this is the home of Altean alchemy, then Voltron will make it through." Allura responded with certainty.

"And what if it's just another nuclear explosion in space?" Lance asked worriedly, "Then we're toast."

"It's highly risky." I stated also getting off my seat, "The theory has never been tested. Voltron can be indestructible, but we are not. Exerting that much energy through one's body can be catastrophic, not mentioning that the humans have never been exposed to such thing."

"Princess, I think you've taken this far enough." Coran said backing me up, "Lotor is seeing you to your doom."

"Quite the opposite." Lotor said calmly, "It is a mission of life discovery."

"You need to zip it!" Lance shot at him pointing a finger angrily.

"Believe me, I would never ask any of you to do this if I didn't know…" Allura trailed off trying to find the right words, "If I didn't feel in my heart that it is true. I belong here." She looked at me, "You belong here."

"Allura, I'm not Altean." I reminder her.

"I know you're not, but I have felt the immense power you hold within back on Naxzela. I don't believe it is a coincidence that we were almost born at the same time…we grew up together. And everything we've been through has been leading to this moment. I need you by my side in this… please."

Her blue eyes sparkled with anticipation of what I would say. Since the beginning, we had taken care of each other, there was no doubt the connection we held to one another. The friendship that my father shared with King Alfor was mirrored in us. It was a friendship that ran so deep it had survived the test of time. "If you believe this is right… that is enough for me."

Allura let out the breath she was holding, closing her eyes briefly and reopening them with a look of thankfulness. She began to move us a little closer to the white hole slowly, being careful not to get us sucked into its gravity zone.

"That's close enough." Pidge suddenly said, "Any further and we'll be affected by the Patrulian Zone's radiation."

"Okay team lets go form Voltron." Shiro ordered.

I pressed on my control panel activating the platform that would lower me down to the zip line. I changed into my Paladin armor quickly before grabbing on to the line and moving toward my speeder. I dropped down and it drove me straight to my lion who opened her chest area brining me up the cockpit. We launched immediately and formed Voltron outside the castle facing the bright light before us when Voltron was finally formed.

"All right, Coran, open up a wormhole." Shiro instructed.

Lance sighed over our open channel, "Well, let's fly into the cosmic death storm."

Coran opened the wormhole before us without uttering another protest; I moved Voltron at full speed towards it not wanting to give myself any more time to think it over. When we came out, we were engulfed inside a tunnel of white light, debris from the destroyed ships and space rocks moved towards us; I moved us quickly aside avoiding the impact. The force inside the tunnel was so strong, Shiro was having a hard time holding Voltron together. "We're being blasted backward!" He grunted, "Full power to thrusters!"

Allura and Hunk activated their thrusters helping the wings of Voltron move forward; we shot deeper into the tunnel, closer to the bright light.

"We're making progress!" Allura exclaimed.

"Just a little closer." I grunted, "We're almost there!"

When we arrived to what seemed to be the end of the tunnel, a face of a white lion suddenly materialized.

"Is that… a lion?" Lance asked.

The lion gave a loud roar and shot an energy beam from its mouth sending us flying back; I pulled on my handles trying to stabilize Voltron.

"Why is it attacking us?" Allura asked.

"It must the guarding of whatever this place is!" I yelled.

"Fire lasers!" Shiro ordered.

The Green Lion shot a laser at it, but the entity before us swirled taking it in and reappeared unharmed.

"There's nothing to hit!" Lance exclaimed.

"It must be a being made up of pure energy." I theorized, "Everything we fire will just be absorbed."

The white lion once again fire another beam, Pidge and Lance put up the arms covering us from the attack, but the force of impact was so powerful it pushed us back making us scream.

"You need to get out of there!" Lotor said over the comm urgently, "That thing is a guardian! It will only allow worthy Alteans through."

"Oh, thanks for the tip!" Lance shot back sarcastically.

"Pull back!" Shiro commanded.

I turned us around at full speed trying to get away from the beast, dodging its incoming attacks to the best of my abilities. One of the beams hit the side of the tunnel and opened a view of the castle. The energy laser hit the castle directly destabilizing it.

"We must get back to the castle." Allura said.

I pushed us out of there, but when we had just made it out, the lion hit our back with one of its beams making us lose all control. The energy surge was so much it separated us back into lions rendering us powerless.

I heard Storm calling my name urgently, _"Taylin, are you alright?!"_

 _"I believe so, but the blast has left Nimawe with no power."_

 _"Same thing has happened here in the castle."_

"I can't control my lion!" Pidge grunted loudly.

"Me either." Lance said, "I've lost power."

"I'm dead in the water." She growled in frustration.

"I think we all are." Shiro spoke up; a little bit of relief washed over me upon hearing his voice.

"These lions aren't going anywhere." Hunk stated.

"We're going to have to get back to the castle on our own." I said unhappily.

"Everyone prepare for a manual EVA." Shiro ordered, "Rendezvous back at the castle. We need to figure this out."

I got off my seat and began to head to the upper hatch of my lion's head. I opened it and climbed out activating my jetpack and moving toward the castle. The other Paladins soon were right beside me and together we managed to make it back safely to the main control room. I removed my helmet combing some hair back that had fallen over my face. Storm and Lotor stood by Coran watching him repair something underneath his control panel.

"I managed to restore auxiliary power, but it won't last long." Coran informed, "If we don't get the castle running within the next quintant, we'll be out of air."

 _"Well, we can always boot Lotor to save some air."_ Storm suggested annoyed.

"Uh, what's up with your face?" Hunk asked Lotor; he had glowing magenta marking on the upper part of his cheekbones, kind of like Allura's.

"Yeah, and if this is the home of Altean alchemy, why can't Voltron get in?" Pidge added.

"I am sorry to put us in this position, but I think I know the answer." Lotor apologized, "Look at Allura."

We turned around to look at her and she removed her helmet to reveal her Altean markings glowing as well; she gaped and touched them when she noticed them.

"Whoa!" Pidge exclaimed, "What's happening?"

Allura walked forward to stand before Lotor, "You have them, too."

"It's called the mark of the chosen." Lotor said with a smile, "They are mentioned in some of the Oriande legends. They indicate those worthy of entering the realm."

"Wait, why aren't Coran's marks glowing?" Shiro asked looking at the advisor.

"There are different types of Alteans." Lotor answered, "Allura possesses a deep connection to ancient Altean energy. It enabled her to operate the teludav and change her shape and size. Her father had greater alchemic understanding than any before him. Others are less magical, no offense." Coran gave him a glare.

"Hey, Tay?" Lance asked gaining my attention.

"What is it Lance?"

"When did you get into body glitter?" He asked coming closer and touching one of my cheeks with his pointer finger.

"I have not placed any glitter on my body, I don't know what you're talking about." I pushed his finger away and took a step back.

"No wait, he's serious." Pidge backed him, "Your skin shines with the light, like if you have glitter on your face."

 _"The little one speaks the truth."_ Storm mentioned, _"Here, take a look for yourself."_ He summoned a water orb out of thin air and stretched it until it stood oval shape. I stepped toward it looking at my reflection and touched my face seeing the tiny glittering dots on it. They contained no glow of their own but when I moved my head side to side they caught the reflection of the light behind me and sparkled.

"I have seen this before." I breathed.

"This has happened to you before?" Allura asked with a bit of worry; she came to my side placing a hand on my shoulder appearing on the reflection of the water mirror. Suddenly a sharp pain erupted on my jaw making me gasp in pain and double over. "What is wrong?" Allura asked urgently.

Shiro rushed to my side taking hold of both my forearms, analyzing me, "Where does it hurt?"

I tried to tell him, but the pain was so strong it was making it impossible to talk. I covered my face with my hands and crouched down trying to regain my composure. I stayed like that until the pain began to subdue slowly in a matter of ticks.

"We should take her to the infirmary." Allura stated with angst.

"No, that's not necessary." I voiced and slowly pulled my hands away. Shiro placed a hand underneath my chin and pulled it up; he gasped, his eyes trailing over every inch of my face.

"What? What happened to me?!" I stood up abruptly and looked at my reflection. The person in front of me was still me, but her features were more defined, sharper. My cheek bones had become a bit more pronounced and had sparkling gold scales from the edge of my eyes to my temple. I blinked a couple of times trying to see if I was imagining things but when I reopened them for a third time, my eyes had also changed. They were no longer round honey color pupils, but slits like Storm's with an intense metallic gold color. Upon opening my mouth, I lifted my upper lip to see my canine teeth had grown a little making them look sharper. I turned around to face the others; they all looked shocked.

 _"You have scales on your face."_ Storm spoke up first, _"You are connected to this place as well. You are a magical being… Allura was right, you do belong here. Taylin… you are one of the chosen."_

"But this doesn't make any sense, I'm not Altean." I stated.

"Clearly you are not, but the power you hold makes you one of the most magical beings among us." Lotor said, "Entering the energy field must have triggered this." He gestured toward my face.

"Do you feel that energy around you?" Allura asked.

I connected to the pool of my powers and noticed how enhanced they had become. I could feel how my current form connecter with my dormant Drako side, almost like I could transform with just one thought, but I held it back. Transforming inside the castle would not be good for our current situation; I would probably end up tearing the castle in two.

"Well I don't know about you guys, but Tay here is one exotic beauty." Lance stated with a smile trying to make me feel better.

I gave him a small smile and bowed my head a bit in gratitude.

"So, what do we do now?" Hunk asked, bringing us back to the current matter at hand.

"Allura, Taylin, and I need to enter the white hole alone." Lotor answered.

"What?" Coran protested, "Absolutely not! What about the monster?"

"The monster is a guard keeping the unworthy out." Lotor explained, "It won't hurt us."

"Yeah, and before, you thought it wasn't going to hurt us!" Lance shot back.

"How are you gonna get there?" Pidge asked, "We're stuck."

"We can use the personal transport crafts." Allura said.

"Allura, please!" Coran exclaimed moving to get ahold of her shoulders, "It's too dangerous. I can't lose you too… I can't lose both you girls." He turned to me with a pleading gaze.

"Coran, I must gain some kind of alchemic knowledge in Oriande, both to save our lives and bring peace to the universe." Allura respond placing her hands on his arms.

 _"As much as I don't like the idea… they must go. We cannot get in the way of something that is bigger than all of us."_ Storm said to all.

"Seriously, you're just going to cave in like that!" Lance retaliated, "And you Shiro, you should be the first one to say no to this. Are you really going to let Taylin go on a suicide mission?"

"If I don't go then I'll never find out what this place is calling me for." I spoke up, "My powers are pulling me to this place… it's like something is calling me to enter. I felt it when we were inside the white hole, I just didn't pay attention to it at the time. It's like Allura said, there must be something we can learn from there that can help us bring stability to the universe."

"Lance, she's right." Shiro stated, "The ship is stuck unless they find a way to somehow get it restarted… I don't like the idea of any of them going, but if they don't, we'll all perish here."

"Don't worry." Allura told him, "This is will work. I can feel it."

"We must leave at once." I said, "We don't have a lot of time before the ship runs out of oxygen."

"Agreed." Lotor said nodding his head.

I gave Storm a nod and turned toward Shiro, his eyes reflected worry even though he was trying to mask it. He extended a hand to me and pulled me along the corridors toward one of the crafts. Lotor and Allura followed not too far behind without uttering a word. Shiro pressed a button on the control pad opening the door where I was to take my leave. He stepped in front of me and took my face in between his hands looking at me straight in the eye.

"Promise me you'll be careful in there." He said urgently.

"I promise."

Shiro leaned down and connected our lips for a brief moment and embraced me tightly before letting me go. He touched the golden scales on my face with the back of his fingers carefully, "You are… my beautiful Drakie."

A wide smile grew on my face; I placed my helmet on before I jumped on him and my departure would delay. I settled on the small craft and turned to look at him before he closed the door, "I'll see you soon… my handsome human." He chuckled and closed the door, watching me through the glass.

I faced forward getting concentrated on what was to come, "Taylin, standing by. Ready to launch."

"Allura, here. Also, ready.

"Ready." Lotor said simply.

A female voice began a countdown of twenty ticks; I grabbed on to the handles tightly. When the counter reached zero the hatch opened, sucking me into space rapidly. Allura and Lotor were soon at my side and we began our journey into the white hole. The light began to intensify when we broke inside the tunnel and we began to maneuver, avoiding the floating debris. The three of us made it the end of the tunnel and the white lion once again reappeared. I pang of fear coursed through me under its intense white gaze. I silently prayed Lotor was right and it would let us through without obliterating us. The White Lion opened its jaws preparing for another shot and I closed my eyes thinking how I had let Lotor lead Allura and I to our deaths. I could see the white light through my closed eyelids, waiting for my body to contort with pain or have my life vanish in an instant, but after a few ticks none of those two things happened. I slowly opened my eyes and what I saw was a magenta mist all around us and when we broke through it, there were glowing light blue rocks floating in midair; it was an extraordinary sight. We flew by them, and looking closely, the glowing parts of the rocks were actually engravings I did not recognize. There was a strong energy here making me stronger, it was a place where I would never run out of the quintessence I needed to use my powers; I felt really alive.

"It's amazing." Allura breathed.

"Where do we go from here?" I asked.

"Follow me." Lotor stated and banked to the left; we followed right behind him to a nearby floating immense rock and landed.

"None of my research or travels have prepared me for this." Lotor said, "From here, we are on our own."

Lotor began to move toward a rock wall where we would have to climb our way up, I followed behind Allura when I heard someone whisper my name, "What is it?"

Allura turned around confused along with Lotor.

"Didn't someone just say my name?" I asked.

"Uh, no." Allura stated rising an eyebrow.

My name was called again but seeing both their faces told me they had not uttered it. I began to feel something tugging at me at a different direction than we were headed. Many voices started to tell me to go, to reach them. I knew I should never pay attention to creepy voices in my head, but something deep inside of me told me it was necessary. The energy I felt when I arrived had become even stronger to the East.

"Are you okay, Taylin?" Allura asked concerned.

"You go on ahead with Lotor, I need to follow that energy source." I stated moving away from them.

"But, Taylin we must stick together. We don't know what we'll encounter here." Allura complained.

I turned around to face her, "I know you will find what you're looking for here…. Something strong is pulling me in the opposite direction and I need to find out what it is. There is a reason why I was allowed in here and it was not to learn Altean Alchemy. I will try to meet with you as soon as I can."

Allura closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Alright, but be careful out there."

"How will you find us?" Lotor asked; clearly no happy with my decision either.

"I have become accustomed to Allura's energy, I will find you when I'm ready to leave. Oh, and Lotor, take care of Allura. If anything happens to her a will hold you personally responsible."

He nodded his head and I turned around to go, manifesting my wings when I jumped up in the air. I flapped down twice shooting me forward and began to fly around the floating rocks. I had no instrument to guide myself since they stopped working the moment we entered the mysteries world of Oriande, so I let my powers lead me. They worked like a compass following the trail of energy. The scenery was fascinating from the blue magenta sky to the green forest below. I could not sense living creatures underneath me, but this world could not be desolated, there had to be some type of life.

I flew a vast distance until the trail grew stronger by the edge of a great forest. A stone temple stood in the distance, two symmetrical pillars adorned each side of the massive arch. Most of its surface was grey, but when I landed I noticed small blue veins running throughout it. The energy grew stronger as I began to move toward the arch. The inside of the temple looked dark, wind howled inside of it like if there were windows letting air through. Upon close inspection, the top of the arch was adorned with a statue of long wings that crossed at their tips. They stood like shields covering something behind them, but their height would not allow me to see further than their stone surface. I looked inside the pitch-black entrance hesitant to step inside, the darkness within did not seem too welcoming. I analyzed the structure a bit more trying to find an excuse not to go in and did. On the side of the great arch was an inscription, to my surprise, written in the ancient Drakie language. My feet carried me to the engraved words trailing my finger over one of them. It read as follows:

 _The deepest desires of the heart will be granted to those purest of heart. Liberate the soul and see beyond your eyes. Wisdom is earned, not granted. The spirit shall be tested through the power of the eleven…prove your worth._

Just when I finished saying the last word, the script began to glow a soft yellow. I watched in wonder, fascinated by the power I felt emanating from it, though the scripture confused me. I did not comprehend what it was talking about. Was I not to come alone? Did I need ten more others to be able to decipher its secrets? I was so concentrated in trying to find the answer I did not notice the wings above me began to shift until the ground began to shake violently. I looked around me, watching more fissures appeared on the stone floor, a loud rumbling echoed all around the forest. It sounded like a giant bolder breaking off a mountain and tumbled down its side. A piece of the arch suddenly broke off coming right toward me, I jumped out of the way just in time landing on my side harshly. The ground shook strongly one last time, preventing me from lifting myself up, before it complete stopped and the forest fell silent. I looked down at the ground expecting for the shaking to come back, but after a few ticks nothing happened. I began to push my body off the ground and gazed in front of me, but what I saw made me freeze in place. I did not know if to be scared or amazed before the creature that stood in my presence. It looked like a Drako with two heads. Their eyes glowed a bright yellow, the majority of its body looked to be made of stone. The front of its chest and talons had vines growing on them and roots that snaked down its belly to its hind legs. The wings of the beast were covered in leaves that ruffled in the light breeze.

I lifted my right hand up slowly shifting my weight to my leg, the Drako observed me with its four eyes watching my every move closely. When I was finally able to get into a hunched position, it suddenly bared it teeth and roared loudly. I place both my hands up in the air in surrender, "Easy there, I mean you no harm." Its breath came out in short huffs and it scratched on the floor with its right paw. I took a step forward being very cautious of my moments, but the beast did not seem to understand me. One of its heads suddenly opened its jaws and a strong water jet came toward me. I summoned a shield just in time, but the jet was so strong it sent me flying back. It came after me lashing it tail, trying to pin me down with its sharp barked talons. I rolled out of the way, only missing me by a hair's length. I got up and ran to the other side of the arch creating some distance between us. "I said I did not want to harm you!" I exclaimed, once again placing my hands up in the air. It roared and shot another water jet this time bigger than the last. In response, I summoned my own water tunnel and met its attack head on. The two water tunnels clashed loudly and sprayed water all around us like rain. "I guess… you leave me… no choice." The beast took a step forward causing my feet to slide back; my arms were getting tired of holding off the attack, so I quickly moved to the side letting the jet hit the pillar behind me, tearing off a chuck of its side.

It kept attacking me over and over not tiring for a tick; the dodging was wearing me out. Until I realized what the scripture meant, _"The eleven will be tested…"_ I had to prove my ability to summon and manipulate the elements. True, I could control all eleven, but my training mostly concentrated on using water, wind, and fire.

There was no other option, I was going to have to fight the beast and proof my worth. It was difficult to recall my teachings while trying not to get my head blown off by a water jet. My foot got caught on a boulder making me tumble to the ground, but I didn't even have the time to complain before I jumped out of the way. I looked down at my hands briefly noticing they were covered in grime, when I had a thought, "That's it!" I leaped off the edge of the stone temple and landed on the forest floor using my wings to minimize the impact. The beast jumped right behind me growling and chomping its razor-sharp teeth. The right head shot another tunnel of water when I summoned the soil beneath me up, blocking the attack. I closed my eyes waiting for the jet to break through, but it continued to hold in place. I pushed against its jet sending a pillar of the forest floor towards its mouth shutting its jaws up. "Earth swallows' water!" I cheered with a wide smile. The beast bared its teeth with its second head and the other spit out the dirt from its mouth. It gazed up into the sky and gave a high pitch screech and a lighting bold fell from the heavens near my left foot. I felt the electricity surge through me causing me to convulse involuntarily. Every inch of my body felt like it was being shocked, and a great pain doubled me over; a gasp escaped my lips. I clenched my teeth together trying to regain my self-control and pushing my pain to the back of my head. The creature screeched again alerting of another bolt, I pushed myself to the side as it struck a nearby tree igniting it in flames. I took a deep breath and jumped up in the air, spreading my wings and dodging the incoming bolts. With each ray of electricity, I moved closer to the beast and summoned a metal plating underneath it. When the lighting hit it, the whole place ignited in an intense white light pushing me back. The beast roared in pain and when it seized, it smelled like burned bark, but it still stood in place. "Metal conducts electricity. What comes next?" I asked it, tightening my hands into fists.

The beast looked at me and suddenly its eyes lost all color turning a deep black. The hollowness of then made me yearn for the bright yellow that ignited them before. Small dark veins crawled out from its dark pools to the front of its snout, letting out a puff of air. I felt goosebumps on my arms; the hair on the back of my neck stood on end and a great cold surrounded me, every breath I took became visible in small white clouds. An ominous presence fell upon the forest and when I gazed up there were black tendrils extending from the depth of the trees toward us. They crawled slowly from their hiding place, moving elegantly lighter than air. When they reached my feet and wrapped around my ankles, surprisingly even though I was wearing my Paladin armor, they felt soft and welcoming. They made me feel like I could do anything; like I was the most powerful being in the universe, an unstoppable force of nature. I had powers no one else had, I was the Drakie Queen; sole heir of King Glerd. Nobody could rival me or fight me as equal. I should fear no one, on the contrary, my name should be whispered in fear among my enemies. They should cower at my might and I shall crush them underneath my foot. A chuckle escaped my lips, but something deep inside of me feared it. My laugh did not seem mine, as absurd as that sounded. When I opened my eyes, the dark tendrils had wrapped all around my body and were beginning to slider up my neck. I tried to move my arms, but the black tendril proved to be stronger than I. Those thoughts of power and revenge were not my own, but of the element of darkness, the most unstable of them all. If one did not have the will and the mind capacity to control it, it could control you. That's what happened so long ago, before I was born. Drakie of the light and dark clan tried experimenting with dark arts claiming it could be controlled but it only resulted in the imbalance of their spirits. They became fiends, hungry for power, trying to gain control of all clans on Negetia; my father united all Drakie and together they put a stop to the dark war. I refused to succumb to the darkness, to become everything I hated. "I will always guide those who are lost. I will never let my powers be tainted by the darkness… I am light." I said with conviction. When I declared that, the hold of the dark tendril loosened allowing me to move. Light began to radiate from my body, my aura glowed a soft gold making the darkness retreat back to its hiding place where it belonged. It was like the sun evaporating the morning mist.

A low hum gained my attention, reminding of the beast that still stood near me. I turned to my right to look at it and noticed it eyes had returned to normal, but not like before, it did not bear its teeth in aggressiveness rather it observed me as if trying to understand something. My strength started to falter, leaving me like the life at the end of one's journey. My knees gave out and I fell face down on the dirt, my helmet flew off at the force of the impact. I could smell the wet soil underneath me, the cool breeze touching my exposed cheek. A bright light engulfed me, but it did not feel like the darkness. This presence I welcomed; it almost felt like being at home. Could this be how death felt like? Being at piece with everything around you and the glorious feeling of being carried away into the great beyond? I knew my time would come eventually and I didn't fear it.

* * *

Thanks for Reading

Has Tay proven herself or has it costed our noble queen her life?

Wow, what a cliff hanger.

Hey everyone, I decided to upload today since I don't think I will be able to at the end of the week. Not sure I will upload another one this week my life has been really busy lately. I swear teachers show no mercy with the amount of work they assign.

Also, thanks for the lovely comments. Love you all.

 _RomanxReigns1234- I love your story's keep it up x_

 _Tia- Hey! Just wanted to leave a comment to let you know how much I enjoy your work! Seriously keep it up! I love Taylin and how you grasp the Paladin's characters!_

 _Usa-Chan Official- I absolutely love this story. I wish there was a way she could revive her planet, I imagined it would be like the Kida and the crystal from Atlantis, thats how I would revive her planet. I can't wait to read more!_


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

 **Transcend**

Most of our lives we try to find our purpose, some even spend decades trying to comprehend their calling. We are specs of dust in the vastness of the universe while she watches us create life or destroy it with our own insecurities. Why can we live in harmony? Are we not made from the same cosmic dust? And where do we go after we return to such dust?

The light embraced me, taking me into its hold delicately making me feel at peace with everything around me. It felt like flying in slow motion, and like the soul being detached from the body. I kept my eyes closed just enjoying the softest and seeing the light through my closed eyelids. I wasn't afraid of anything it the arms of the light, nothing could harm me here. All darkness had disappeared letting me rest with no need to keep fighting. My strength slowly began to return to me, drip by drip, but I wasn't in the rush to stand or move a limb.

 _"Open your eyes, child."_ A soft female voice said.

I followed its order and began to open my eyes slowly letting the light flood my vision. The light around me was so bright, I had to blink a couple of times before my vision could adjust. I moved my hand and saw the floor ripple like it was made of water, but my cheek did not feel wet. I rouse my head gazing at the sea of crystal water all around me, bathed in that luminescent light.

 _"Where am I?"_

 _"You are in a place where time does not touch. A place of peace and serenity…"_ A voice answered my thoughts.

I looked to the front, still laying on my stomach, and there stood a bright orb surrounded by a curtain of different color clouds. From it emanated swirls of light, white, gold, and orange. It seemed like a gate way to heaven. My eyes were mesmerized by its beauty leaving me breathless.

 _"Have I passed away?"_ I asked feeling a bit of dread thinking of those I left behind.

 _"You are safe here."_

 _"What has happened?"_ I asked.

 _"Your soul has transcended to the great beyond. You are now a part of everything that exists in the universe. The elements have tested you and found you worthy."_

 _"But I have not proven my worth… I am far from being worthy."_

 _"You have tasted darkness and revoked it, placing the light above all, that alone child, has made you worthy. The ancients have watched you since the first time you took your first breath. They have seen the spirit of the great Drakie reside in you and blessed you with powers beyond comprehension. We have awaited your arrival for thousands of years."_

 _"I am to stay here for the rest of eternity?"_

 _"You are a being of light; your place is here with your ancestors. The universe needs someone to stabilize the chaos… the elements have chosen you. Compassion, strength, courage, are a few of the qualities you possess… that's what the great Drakie has been looking for."_

 _"Who is this great Drakie you speak of?"_

A few ticks went by and the voice did not answer, but its presence was still surrounding me. _"Will you not answer?"_ I asked pushing myself off the water floor to rest on my knees. The colorful clouds began to shift letting more light seep through, I covered my eyes with my arm until a shadow appeared among them. It looked to be walking closer until the silhouette became more defined revealing a humanoid. They stepped out from among the clouds to uncover a woman. She had long elegant blond hair that almost looked like threats made of gold. Her skin was a light cream color and she wore a dress that dropped to the floor. It was imprinted with depictions of galaxies and stars, when it ruffled, they seemed to move inside the fabric. What caught be off guard the most, were her eyes and what adorned their sides; they had the same metallic hint to them with golden scales gracing her temple. Upon her head, she wore of crystal crown with glowing jewels resembling each color of the elements. I reached to my face feeling the roughness of my scales underneath my gloved hand, "You have the same markings as me… Who are you?"

"My name is Fireheart, I am the mother of all Drakie. The first of our kind." She responded in her melodic voice; it was the same voice that had spoken into my head earlier.

"But your female, I always thought the beginning of our bloodline-"

"Was male." She finished for me with a small smile, "Our race is one of the most ancient in the universe. We were created by the elements to keep their valance, beings who were able to connect with them on a deeper level; they called us, Drakie. Each Drakie was given the gift of manipulating and creating an element, but we are different. They blessed one with the ability to control all eleven in order to establish a leader among them. We are strong forces of nature, difficult to comprehend, it was not until I was brought to this place did I understand the vastness of my powers."

"What exactly did they show you?" I asked curiously.

"Everything." She simply answered and began to walk toward me, "Rise Taylin, in here we are equals. There is no need for reverence. You are part of my bloodline. I am the queen of the past and you are the queen of the future and present." Fireheart extended a hand to me, I examined it for a few ticks before placing my right in hers and she helped me to my feet. The resemblance between us was astounding, there were differences like her golden hair, her pointier nose, and her thinner lips, but it looked like we were cut from the same stone. She waved at me to follow her away from the illuminated clouds towards the edge were the stars shone. It looked like we were at the verge of the crystal sea; one step could lead to a fall into the vastness of space. "The ancients of the elements taught me the balance between nature from the birth of a star to the frigid depths of a sea."

"If the elements want to keep the balance in the universe, then why did they allow the destruction of our planet and the chaos Zarkon brought upon it?" I asked gazing down below.

"Believe me, we would have loved to stop the war, but we cannot intervene with the free will of any of the beings of the galaxy. We were forced to feel the elements of each planet suffer under the cruel hand of the Galra. It felt like being torn apart… they screamed at me in pain…" She trailed off lost in the feeling; I placed a hand on her shoulder making her look at me, she gave me a sad expression.

"I know the feeling, I was once struck by a weapon that sucked out all quintessence from the body. It left me with almost nothing to hold on to, clinging to life by a thread."

"You won't have to suffer such things ever again." Fireheart stated brushing a strand of hair back from my face, "You can become one with all. Unite your soul with the elements and set yourself free. Flesh and blood fades away but in this realm, you will be eternal, beside me there is nothing we cannot accomplish. We can create new worlds for beings who have lost it all… we can create a new Negetia."

Her last words brought a flare of hope to my heart, to create a new planet for my people to reside in or even for those who have lost it all in the war seemed like an impossible dream, but here, it seemed it was just a reach away. "If you have so much power like you profess, then why have you not reestablished Negetia?"

She looked down at the floor, "Because I can't, I am still not strong enough to put our planet together, but you, Taylin. You have a strength within you that far exceeds any Golden Drakie in thousands of years. You my dear have a connection to the elements I could have never dreamed of replicating at your age." Fireheart extended a hand to me with a pleading gaze, "Stay with me here. Help me repair the damage that was done to the universe."

Her offer tantalized me, to reveal my true potential has been something I always thought about when growing up. I always pondered on what would be my place in the universe even with the clear path to the Drakie throne.

My mind told me it was the right thing to do; to join my ancestors in the elemental realm, but sometimes the heart fights, defeating every plan we could ever establish. I looked at her hand with a deep dread in my stomach, I couldn't take it and leave everyone I loved behind; there were people depending on me. I could not bring myself to abandon them just to pursue a calling I wasn't even sure was for me. We have the right to choose our own path and mine was beside Storm and the other Paladins. They never failed me, and I was not about to fail them. "I'm sorry Fireheart, but I still have so much to live for, I cannot simply leave everything behind."

"It's your mate is it not?" She asked, "You don't want to leave him, but I am sure he would understand if you chose to stay. Your mate belongs to one of the youngest races in the galaxy, his mind cannot comprehend what you truly are. Set aside your feelings, this is something bigger than you alone."

"It's not just him." I said irritated, "I have a duty to so many people in this galaxy. Being a Paladin of Voltron has given me a purpose, to keep fighting for those who need saving. As long as there is good in the universe, evil will always threaten our peace."

A smile slowly grew on her features and she took her time before answering, "I always knew you were the one. You have refused yet again so much power to fight for a bigger cause. Placing others before you is admirable. I do not want you to stay here, the elements wish you to, but I can see it in your eyes that this." She mentioned to our surroundings, "Is not where you belong. We Firehearts are strong minded." She lifted her right hand which emanated a soft white glow and placed her palm on my forehead, "Go now my child, bring peace to the universe, do not stray from the righteous path. Know that all of the past kings and queens are by your side. The secrets of the powers you hold are within, just tap deep into the pool of your powers and believe. There is nothing you can't do if you believe in yourself… receive my blessing to live a long fruitful life. I know that someday we'll meet again. You have been tested and found worthy."

Fireheart's voice began to fade away like the wind carrying her melodic voice into the depths of the universe. Warmth enveloped my forehead and spread out to the rest of my body. I felt how the whole universe began to spin around me and I closed my eyes letting them surround me. Stars and galaxies danced like a centrifuge; I could feel their energy and life force; I pushed aside all thoughts and concentrated in seeing with my spirit. It expanded out of me into a great Drako and when I reopened my eyes, my physical body had become the center, a heart. Trails of different colors slithered toward me and connected themselves to my chest, representing each element. The elements whispered to me and mended their strength with my own until my whole body radiated light. My crystal heart became a hot coal and I took flight jumping off the edge of the crystal sea, dauntless. My great wings carried me down back to my Oriande, the stars blurred passed me as I ignited the darkness. I had never felt so free; my heart was light as a feather and everything I once thought impossible had become possible. I couldn't understand how someone could refuse the light for the darkness. It brought the best of one's self to the surface, it was something that could not be fathomed. I wanted the whole universe to feel like I did in this very moment. It gave me a new-found courage to keep fighting, to make sure good prevailed.

I broke Oriande's atmosphere, seeing the blue magenta sky once again and banked left heading toward Allura's energy signature. When I noticed her, she was heading back to the personal crafts with Lotor. I let out a roar announcing my presence and they both looked up in shock. Allura, once she felt it was me, smiled widely and waved her right harm enthusiastically. Both of them reach their crafts and I took them into my talons in one fell swoop and began to journey back to the castle. Soon we reached the white tunnel and my wings seemed to blend in with the bright white scenery; I imagined I looked like a ghost. I dodged the space rocks and ship parts, but I quickly figured out it was unnecessary; they passed by my body without any harm, nothing could hurt Lotor and Allura in my grasp.

We exited the tunnel and headed toward the castle's lower hatch. I set Allura and Lotor down for her to open it and climb inside. I de-manifested my Drako spirit until only my wings remained still glowing brightly. We hurried through the corridors towards the control room, upon entering, the others laid on the ground slowly dying from the lack of oxygen. Allura moved to her platform and placed her hands on the controls closing her eyes in concentration and the castle's light slowly ignited. I moved toward the front of the room and send a big gust of wind; they took deep breaths taking in the oxygen until their chest normalized. I went to help Lance and Pidge rise from the floor while Storm lifted Coran and Hunk. I rushed to Shiro's side who sat with his head hanging low resting his back on Allura's platform. I grabbed his face and he smiled at me, "Your glowing." He said still a bit out of breath.

"You almost died and that's the first thing you say." I chuckled and concentrated in pulling my energy back to its core, vanishing my wings along with the radiance. I pulled off my helmet setting it aside and planet a kiss to his forehead before helping him stand up. Shiro placed an arm over my shoulders and brought me close to his side.

"You did it!" Coran exclaimed, squinting his eyes at Allura.

"We… we should have never doubted you." Lance managed to say.

"I couldn't have done it without Lotor and Taylin." Allura voiced with a smile.

"You are a true Altean alchemist." Lotor praised, "Oriande was for you, not for me… and it also seems that Queen Fireheart also found what she was looking for. I never seen anything like what I witnessed when you appeared from among the clouds. Truly remarkable."

"What did you find?" Allura asked.

"I found myself." I answered, "The elements tested me and found me worthy of their trust."

"How did they carry that out?" Lotor asked fascinated.

"I cannot reveal everything, just that it was a difficult task." I responded; Lotor nodded his head understanding. Storm could not help himself and began to scroll through my recent memories in awe at what I had just witnessed. He saw from my battle with the sentinel to meeting my great ancestor, Fireheart. Like me, he was surprised at the news of a female being the first of our kind.

 _"After all that… you stayed."_ Storm voiced only to me.

 _"I couldn't leave any of you behind. All of you are the reason I wake up every day, the light in my world. We have created a family here and as such we stick together. You and I are pieces of a same soul, connected for life. If I had transcended, who knows what would have happened to you."_

 _"The elements offered you even more power than you already possess, and you refused it… that was an opportunity of a lifetime, but I'm glad you stayed."_ Storm gazed deep into my eyes and wrapped me in his warm mental embrace.

 _"So I'm I."_

"So, what's the next step?" Pidge asked breaking our mental conversation.

"Slow down, Pidge." Lance whined, "We just started breathing again."

"We should get out of here and get some rest, you all have been through quite an ordeal." I said with a small smile.

"I second that." Hunk agreed raising a hand.

"Coran set a course to Galra central command." Allura ordered.

"Right away, Princess." He answered and moved to his control panel plotting in the coordinates and Allura opened a wormhole leaving the wondrous white hole behind along with its secrets. I was only there for a short amount of time, but that had allowed me learn things about myself. Things that had never passed through my mind; many of the ancient scripts were lost since our race was so archaic but learning the truth about my origins made me feel closer to my race. I was glad Fireheart did not force me to stay, I don't think I could have lived with myself for the rest of eternity knowing I had failed my closes friends and loved ones. I thought surely there would be consequences for refusing the offer of the ancients, but it appeared my powers only grew stronger. I did not want to reveal how much my internal energy had grown, it was not that I didn't trust my fellow Paladins, but I was still hesitant of Lotor. He had aided us in our mission of peace since the taking of Naxzela, but my encounter with the light had made me more perceptive to the darkness that a loomed us. I had not noticed it before, but something told me it was not right and who better to carry that darkness than Lotor. I was going to keep a close eye on him, if he made a move to harm any of the Paladins, I would not hesitate to terminate him.

We had docked back on the Galra central command, and we all headed to our perspective rooms to rest. I laid in bed with my eyes wide open for about half a varga still running my mind over what I had witnessed. The revelation only brought more questions, I felt like I did not know my blood line. If the elements entrusted us with so much power, what was really our limit? If there was one. My father always warned me of using excessive energy could lead to certain death, but had any actually went beyond that line? I pondered in dozens of questions until my mind fell tired and slowly drifted me off to sleep. My dreams were painted with the brightest of colors, replaying every detail of my journey on Oriande.

 _I stood at the end of a bright light, its warmth caressing my face; I felt at peace. The light suddenly began to fade away and, in the middle, stood a man. It was a figure I had become so accustomed too, it belonged to the man I loved. He looked at me with such longing and a smile slowly grew on his face. I smiled widely back at him and ran to meet him wanting nothing more than to have him in my arms and tell him I was there for him. The distance between us as I ran only grew bigger; stars shined at a distance on each side. I was starting to become anxious and when I did finally reach him, the celestial floor gave out. I saw how Shiro fell from the heavens and plummeted down in the void of darkness. I reached out to him as he fell, screaming his name. I tried to jump after him, but an invisible force prevented me from doing so. Shiro closed his eyes accepting his fate and I only screamed louder._

I woke with a jolt and with a figure looming over me, holding my shoulders tightly trying to bring me back to my senses. Shiro sighed in relief when he saw my eyes open and took me into his arms running a hand over my hair.

"Is she going to be alright?" Pidge asked from the door; her small frame darkened by the light from the hallway.

I wiped the tears that stained my face and answered, "I'm fine Pidge, just a bad dream."

"Are you sure?" She asked with worry, "You sounded very frightened."

I gave her a small smile, "I'm fine now."

Pidge nodded her head and went back to her room closing the door behind her, the light from the stars outside and the Galra fleet gave a bit of light to my room. I curled my arms around Shiro, burying my face on his shoulder.

"Want to talk about it?" Shiro asked leaning his head on my own.

"I don't know how to explain it." I began, a tear slid out of my right eye, "I had a dream that I… lost you, to the void of space, plummeting into nothingness and I couldn't do anything to save you."

He pulled back to take my face into his hands and glanced directly into my eyes, "Nothing like that will ever happen. I am right here beside you, not even the universe itself will force me to leave your side."

"Even with the advances we have made with the help of Lotor, this is still war, and anything can happen in battle. I already lost so many people I cared about, I don't want to lose you too or any of the other Paladins. I stayed for all of you."

"What do you mean?"

I took his hands in my own and brought them down to my lap looking down at them, "I was offered by the great ancients of my race a chance to rule beside them as a being who would keep the balance of the elements in the universe, but I refused." I glanced back at his face, his grey eyes reflected the light of the stars, "I didn't want to leave you."

Shiro leaned in to place his forehead on mine looking deeply into my eyes, analyzing me for a few ticks before speaking, "Thank you."

"For what?" I asked confused.

"For not leaving me. I don't know what I would have done without you."

I smiled widely at him and connected our lips for a brief moment just enjoying each other's company. Shiro got up and lifted the covers, "Scoot."

I complied without a word and he got into bed placing the covers over our bodies and I rested my head on his chest feeling the rise and fall of it. He wrapped an arm around me and kissed the top of my head; his heart was like music to my ears. Pumping life through his veins, reminding me he was here with me, palpitating strongly. I couldn't help to remember Fireheart's words, that I had chosen a mate among one of the newest species in the galaxies. Sometimes the humans seemed so fragile to me, easy to break with any emotion, but that's what made them who they were. Who would we be without our emotions to guide us, to feel love, happiness and anger. I myself had a strong connection with my emotions, they inter-winded themselves with my powers making them surface according to my mood.

Shiro's soft breathing rocked me to sleep and calmed every sense in my body until I felt my canine teeth return to normal and my eyes to their regular soft honey green. I touched my temple and only felt tiny pump signaling that the scales were still present but not as noticeable as before. I smiled and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

After we got our much-needed sleep, Lotor called for a meeting coming to fetch us himself and guided us into the throne room. As usual, some Galra stared as we passed by and surprisingly the two that followed Pidge, Lance, and Hunk around on our first visit stopped to say hello. The doors hissed open at our presence and we strolled inside behind Lotor.

"We'll see intel in your briefing and decide what to do." Shiro said from beside me, "Maybe we can-"

"Lotor." A Galra female cut Shiro off, she stood with her hands behind her back at the end of the aisle.

Lotor's eyes widen, but quickly changed to that of annoyance and groaned, "Oh no."

Lance stepped in front of him confused looking at the her, "Uh… who the heck are you?"

She came forward with an emotionless face, "How dare you speak to me without authorization from Blood Emperor Lotor." She bended a stick in her hands and hit Lance on the face with it; Lance groaned holding his cheek in pain.

"She was my governess." Lotor stated with a sigh, "No one has used the term 'Blood Emperor' since before we were a star-faring race." He motioned to us, "And these are my colleagues. They have more than my permission to speak. Everyone, this is Dayak."

Everyone began to state their greeting; Storm shut his snout loudly and growled lowly.

"So, to what do we owe the honor?" Lotor asked her.

"Word of your victory at the Kral Zera has spread throughout the empire." Dayak began with a smile, "I always knew you had it in you to crush your enemies. Dayak's raised you from a child to a man, and now I'll witness your ascension to the throne."

Lance held his side and laughed while Lotor looked at her with a nervous expression with a visible sweat drop trailing down his face, "Wait, she raised you from a child? Aww, is this your nanny?"

"Governess." Lotor corrected.

"You have a nanny!" Lance exclaimed with a grin, "Oh man! Is she going to read you bedtime stories? Is she gonna rock you to sleep? Is she gonna—? Ow!"

Dayak hit Lance on the side of the face again stopping his teasing; she bared her teeth angrily, "I instructed Lotor in the ways of the Galra. The history of our conquest, our customs, battle philosophy, the art of war."

 _"Gosh, how old is this lady?"_ Storm commented with amusement; I chuckled.

"Hmm, Galra customs, huh?" Hunk said with his hands on his waist, "Is that like when you say 'vrepit sa' and stuff? There's so much we don't know about you."

Lotor leaned toward him and place a hand on his shoulder, "If you're interested in our society's history, you couldn't find a better teacher than Dayak."

"What Lotor says is true." Dayak stated.

"Oh, wow." Hunk voiced, "Would you really teach me about the Galra?"

"What you wanna know about the Galra for?" Lance asked bewildered.

"We're gonna be working with Lotor to bring peace through the empire, right?" Hunk answered, "Makes sense the more we know about their society, the better."

"If you are to learn the ways of the Galra, you must be prepared for the most challenging trial you could ever undertake." Dayak said, "There will be no turning back. Victory or death." Her eyes widen at the end trying to scare Hunk, which worked.

Hunk lifted his hand with a sheepish grin trying to back down, "Uh, oh, that's okay."

"Hunk, you're a Paladin of Voltron. There is no challenge too great for you." Allura encouraged.

"True, if you put your mind to it there is nothing you can accomplish." I added crossing my arms with a smile.

Hunk groaned, "Will I learn what 'vrepit sa' means?"

"Yes." Dayak answered plainly.

Hunk perked up in excitement and determination, "Let's do it!" He began to follow Dayak away to learn about the ways of the Galra, I just hoped she wasn't too harsh on him. Out of all of us, Hunk was the kindest and easy going.

"Let's get to that briefing." Shiro stated getting back to business.

Lotor nodded and motion for us to follow him into the main control room which had red holographic screens with data of the galaxies ready for us. Being able to have inside information had helped us in our journey and success in recent missions. We no longer had to guess what the Galra were up to leaving us clear minded for other details of our plan.

A Galra stood by the main computer with his hands behind his back, "You may begin the briefing." Lotor ordered.

He bowed his head and began to speak, "The civil war continues unimpeded. More and more Galra forces are leaving to join other factions. Sendak has claimed the most deserters." An image of him popped up on the screen making a slight shiver run down my back. "They call themselves 'the fire of Purification'."

"He is no doubt a puppet of the witch Hagar." I spoke up with distaste, "She is not going to give up her power that easily, but since she cannot rule, she had to find a proxy to do it for her. If we don't stop them soon, we run the risk of losing the majority of the Galra forces to them." I turned to face Lotor, "There are a lot of people who do not want to see you in power. You represent a threat to those hungry for conquest."

"You are absolutely correct." Lotor stated, "It is time I address all Galra and make my claim as emperor absolute."

"Is that going to start with you freeing planets?" Lance asked.

"It's not that easy." Lotor responded, "My grip on the empire is tenuous as is. I need to proffer an alternative to our current state. That's why it is so important that Allura and I gain access to the quintessence field."

"Are we to focus all of our energy on that?" Allura asked.

"It is paramount." Lotor said, "However, we cannot let the empire fall apart. I will address my people at the astral conflux."

 _"How are you so sure that providing unlimited quintessence energy will solve our problems?"_ Storm asked, making his voice heard by everyone.

"It is what the Galra have been fighting for decades, providing them with unlimited energy will turn the tide in our favor." Lotor answered not flinching once at the first time Storm had spoken directly to him.

 _"The Galra have only know violence for thousands of years, they will not give up dominance so easily especially now that we have Sendak working alongside Hagar… she is one of the most powerful and experience beings in the empire."_

"Worry not, Storm." Lotor assured, "They both will get their due soon enough."

Storm gave a low growl ending the conversation and withdrew his mind until it only touched mine, he did not approve of Lotor's plan. He thought it was impossible to change the ways of those who had known violence all their lives. Deep down he still held resentment for what they had done, an image of me battered and bruised appeared in his head, but he quickly hid it away; I sighed.

"Let us do what is at our reach." I said, "If getting your ships to enter the quintessence field is the answer then so be it."

"I'm glad you agree." Lotor stated with a smile, "There is no time to lose, come along Allura." He began to walk out of the room and Allura followed close behind heading to the hangar that stored the ships; Lance crossed his arms with an annoyed stare.

"Are we really going to trust this guy?" Lance asked crossing his arms.

 _"As far as I can through him… without effort. Which isn't too far."_ Storm commented, _"Power can corrupt a person and he's about to have a whole lot of it."_

"I'm not saying we should open up with all our secrets, but we just have to work alongside him to finish what we started." Shiro spoke.

I looked behind me at the throne at the end of the walkway, the pointed edges and silver surface made it glimmer in the purple light. I had destroyed a similar throne back then when I lashed out at Zarkon with my tail; I felt like doing the same just for the sake of removing the place where he used to order executions of vile plans, but I didn't think the Galra would look upon an act like that in kindness.

It was not long after the briefing that Lotor announced his sovereignty over the Galra Empire. He tried to persuade all Galra to join him in stopping the everlasting fight and establish a new golden age of peace. Soldiers, generals, and workers stood in the throne room before him listening to his speech. I had to give it to him, he knew how to sway the crowd. Some of the people cheered at the end of his transmission and others looked down in thought with a frown on their faces. Lotor dismissed the audience and we once again stood in the control room when a distress signal came through from one of his commanders; Zendak had made his first move.

"The planet has already been fired upon and we don't have the means to protect ourselves." The Galra general informed, "You must send assistance immediately."

"Understood." Lotor said.

"What's going on?" Shiro asked when he joined us.

Lotor turned around to respond, "One of our labor planets is under attack from Sendak and his fleet."

"Sendak?" Lance stated annoyed, "Not that guy again."

"We have to mobilize quickly is we are to help them." I said.

"Sendak would have me respond to his attack and neglect my empire." Lotor said glancing down.

"Voltron can handle this while you continue to rule." Allura spoke up.

"But Princess, I need you here." Lotor voiced, "Without you—"

"Your plan has waited this long." Allura interrupted, "It can wait a tick longer."

"It's either that or have your labor planet fall." I stated backing her up, "We must protect the innocent, it is our duty as Paladins."

Lotor looked at us with worry, but complied, "Of course. Your both right."

"We will return as soon as we can." Allura said.

We turned around to head back to the castle; we got on a platform that would lower us down straight to the hangars, I heard Hunk speak to Dayak, "Looks like I'm gonna have to cut my training short." He apologized.

"You dishonor me." Dayak barked, "A fight to the death!"

I glanced their way as Dayak went to hit him with her stick, Hunk shimmied away whimpering in fright, "Okay, well, I've got to go with them right now." He walked backward toward us, "But maybe we can put a pin in that? Reschedule for tomorrow? Or never?" Hunk jumped on the platform just when it began to lower us down, escaping from Dayaks wrath.

"I take it the training didn't go so well, Hunk?" I asked with a small smirk.

"That lady is scary." Hunk whined, "I don't think I want to continue with the training, I'll find another way to learn about the Galra."

I patted his back, "Who wouldn't be scared of her, Lotor seems frightened of her too." My statement caused the group to laugh.

We got to the castle and quickly made our way to our hangars getting into our lions and launching into space; I followed close behind the Black Lion in formation.

"Hey, Dayak isn't really gonna fight me to the death, is she?" Hunk asked worriedly, no one answered not sure if she would really do it, "Is she?"

Pidge spoke up over the comm, "She seemed pretty serious. But I bet if you ask Lotor nicely, he can have her exiled."

I chuckled, "I'm sure Lotor would be happy to comply."

"Oh, that be nice." Hunk said, "I'm not really in the mood to die, you know? Uh, speaking of, anyone else scared that we're to face Sendak? Sendak 'who almost took all the lions' Sendak? And who basically came back from the dead Sendak, that guy?"

"Okay, we get it." I stated annoyed, "I think we all remember what he did."

"Come on, Hunk." Pidge added, "We're Paladins. We got this. Right, Shiro?"

Wincing and groaning came over Shiro's open channel making me scoot to the edge of my seat in worry, "Shiro, what's wrong?"

"I'm fine." He answered plainly, "Pidge is right. Let's focus on our mission."

His tone of voice sounded like he was hiding something, and knowing him, Shiro would always place himself second when it came to the mission at hand. I was about to retaliate when Coran opened a wormhole and Shiro rushed in. We came out behind a Galra cruiser who fired down at the planet with its ion cannon. We flew past them and came to a stop in front of the fleet. I wanted nothing more than to sink White's teeth and claws into Sendak's ships and tear them apart. He was as cruel as his former master, Sendak needed to be stopped before he became as powerful as Zarkon. We could not allow another individual like him to roam the universe doing whatever they felt like and spreading fear into the hearts of the innocent.

We waited for Shiro's orders, when he suddenly gasped loudly and yelled out in pain, this time he could not hide it from me.

"Shiro are you alright?" Lance asked.

"I'm fine." He responded weakly.

"No, you're not, this is the second time it's happened." I shot at him, "Let me help you."

"We don't have time for that, Taylin." Shiro panted, "Come on, team, let's form Voltron!"

I growled under my breath, but followed instructions flying behind him to begin the process. The lions began to shift into their current places until we stood before Sendak's fleet in Voltron. I pushed my worry aside and flew us toward them at full speed, ready to engage.

A visual comm opened on our dash board revealing Sendak with a menacing stare, "I know your true weakness." He stated evilly; I clenched my teeth upon hearing his voice after so long, "That you value the lives of others. And I will hammer that weakness until you are crushed beneath my heel."

The ion canon moved its aim away from us and fired once again, this time hitting the shield generator. A chain of explosions erupted through the station igniting it in a hot bright yellow glow; we looked down at it in shock.

"No!" Pidge exclaimed, "Without those panels in place, the planet will be fully exposed!"

"Which means?" Lance asked urgently.

"No protection from radiation bands!" She answered.

Sendak's fleet began to turn around to leave.

"We can't let him get away!" Lance stated.

"Lance, there's no time." Shiro said, "We've gotta fix that shield as soon as—!" He grunted loudly again and screamed.

"Shiro!" I called, but received no answer, "Shiro! Answer me. What's wrong?!… please answer me."

I decided to neglect his metal privacy and connected our minds pushing against the force that seemed to be tormenting him. It was a wave of darkness and light fighting to take possession of one another, my time in Oriande had made me sensitive to the energy. I pushed against the darkness with all my might, jabbing at it until it set his mind free; Shiro gasped and moaned coming back to his senses. I didn't understand why Shiro was going through such a thing, something seemed terribly off.

"Shiro, are you, all right?" Allura asked as I opened my eyes.

"I'm fine." He managed to answer, "We can't leave that planet unprotected."

"Shiro you don't seem all right." I stated, "Your mind was just attacked by a strange force. You need to take it easy."

"The planet comes first, we'll deal with that later." He responded.

"But, Shiro-" I argued, but he cut me off.

"Look, Taylin. I'll let you probe at my mind as much as you like when we get back to the castle. In the meantime, we need to find a way to get those shields operational again."

I exhaled deeply, "Fine." I moved us toward the front of the control station and Shiro opened a hailing frequency.

"We are the Paladins of Voltron, working with Emperor Lotor." He said, "We're here to help you. What is the status of your shield system?"

"Paladins, I am Commander Bogh." The Galra that had sent out the distress signal said, "Our damage report indicates that a plate has been fractured. Our generator is offline and needs rebooting. Other plates have shifted out of their harnessing and must be repositioned. Only five doboshes until the next solar sequence."

"You're the engineer, Hunk." Shiro stated, "How should we handle this?"

"We need to split up." Hunk answered, "Pidge, you handle the generator system."

"Then I'm gonna need Shiro to come with me." Pidge said, "I can use his arm to power the mainframe."

"I'll come with you both." I spoke up, "I can help by boosting the system with extra energy to get it up and running quickly."

"Okay, good." Hunk said, "Allura, Lance, re-fuse that fractured plate."

"Affirmative." Allura complied.

"You got it!" Lance added.

"I'm gonna try to get the plates aligned." Hunk finished.

"Okay. We've got our orders." Shiro confirmed, "Let's move!"

We disbanded back into lions following Hunk's instructions; Pidge, Shiro and I headed to the generator systems quickly. We landed the lions nearby and exited them using our jetpacks to get to the controls. Shiro reached for a hatch and twisted the handle opening a way inside the tunnel and climbing inside, Pidge and I followed close behind.

"Which way Pidge?" Shiro asked as we came to an intersection.

"Go left." She answered looking down at her wrist communicator.

We moved swiftly using our jetpacks' max capacity; we only have a few doboshes left before we neared the solar belt hitting the planet with an intense wave of radiation. If we did not activate the shield in time, the planet would be toast along with us.

"Pidge, I need you to restore main shield power to get this gravitational harnessing going." Hunk spoke over the comm.

"We're on it." Pidge said.

We arrived at the end of the tunnel and went straight down finally finding the control panel.

Pidge turned around to face us and activated her communicator's screen once again, "Okay, Shiro, let's jack your hand into that terminal and we'll get this thing running in no time."

Shiro said nothing and activated his hand causing it to glow a soft purple and placed it on the control panel screen. The screen began to hum as it allowed access to its main frame and beeped as the data ran over the screen. I stood close beside Shiro inspecting the process. It was not only reason why I wanted to come just in case they needed the extra boost, I needed to keep a close eye on Shiro. Those attacks on his mind were strange. The only conclusion I came up with was that Hagar was aboard Sendak's ships and attacked him to disband Voltron.

The other Paladins began to move the plates into their perspective places as we worked to get the generators back online. Lance and Allura found a way to weld the broken pieces back together and Hunk found a new power to his lion, one that allowed him to move faster while carrying heavier things. Soon Hunk voiced his approval at their work, "Nice job, guys. Pidge, you ready? We're almost at the radiation belt."

I watched her work her magic quickly, "Hold on. I just need a few more minutes." She turned her head to me, "Tay, I might actually need you to run a power current through the system. Its powering up too slowly."

"On it." I stated and moved to place a hand on the wall near the control panel. I closed my eyes in concentration and summoned a wave of electricity to my arm. It tingled from my shoulder to the tip of my finger and I let go of the energy, the control panel began to beep wildly.

"That's it!" Pidge exclaimed, "Where almost through."

I minimized the amount of electricity I was flowing to it until it became a steady flow; I reopened my eyes to watch the progress on the screen.

"Last piece in place." Hunk informed, "Fire up that power, Pidge."

Pidge pressed a button on her small wrist screen and we watched as the circuits began to power on with purple veins running on the surface of the walls.

"Shields up!" Pidge stated.

They powered on just in time as the Solar belt hit head on with full force. Everything was going as planned until Shiro gasped and took his hand off the control panel pushing himself backward in shock; he held his head in pain.

"Shiro, no!" Pidge shouted.

I removed my hand from the wall and went to him placing my hands over his and concentrating in mending our minds together, but what I saw was totally unexpected; I saw the white entity that protected the land of Oriande, the white lion. I growled and began to place protective barriers around Shiro's mind, shielding him from the strange energy that stabbed at his mind.

 _"You can't have him!"_ I exclaimed and fought against the force manifesting my Drako spirt mentally and lashing out with my talons. I managed to place up the final barrier and block the force out taking control of Shiro's mind, _"Get out… of his… head!"_ The lion and I were locked in a spiritual battle trying to summit one another to our will in a dark void. I roared and launched myself at it, digging my talons on its side and with my left paw pushed sending it flying back. It gave a loud roar landing on all fours and came rushing back to me. I opened my wings and jumped up making it miss me and pounced on its back catching its neck in my jaws and applying pressure. My fangs sunk deeply into its form and white energy began to ooze out of its penetrations filling my mouth with a vile taste. The white lion stopped fighting and forfeit to me falling to the floor. Its body began to glow a bright white and I was sent back into my body. I opened my eyes with a gasp and saw how Pidge struggled, dragging us toward the control panel trying to get Shiro's hand back into place. I helped her, pulling Shiro's limp body and managed to get his hand on the control panel powering the generator once again in a tick of time before being obliterated by the sun. The whole place shook violently, but it seemed that the shield was managing to hold the blast at bay.

"Great job!" Hunk praised when the shaking stopped.

"It worked!" Pidge exclaimed.

I huffed in relief and took Shiro in my arms, hugging him closely and setting his head on my shoulder. He began to open his eyes slowly and looked up at me confused, "What happened?"

"I'm not quite sure, you were attacked by the guardian of Oriande." I said softly, "For some reason it wanted to tear your mind apart. I managed to push it out, but I have no idea if it will try again."

"The white lion… I saw it." He whispered.

"I know."

Pidge looked at us with a small smile, "Well I'm glad that's over. It seems like Tay took care of it."

"I hope so." I said in worry.

"Come on, let's get back to our lions." Pidge said and came to Shiro's other side to help me guide him. We arrived and went our separated way to fly our lions to the shielding base's hangar. Shiro exited his lion and I ran up to him to take his hand in mine, interwinding our fingers together, refusing to let him go. He gave me a small smile and we followed after the other Paladins heading to the main control room. When we arrived, Commander Bogh and another Galra stood waiting for us. Hunk walked up to them while we stood back.

"Thank you for reminding us what it means to be Galra." Bogh stated, he placed a hand to his chest and spoke loudly, "Vrepit sa!" The other Galra mirrored his action.

"Vrepit sa!" Hunk saluted, "Man that's weird to say."

We laughed and smiled at him, "Hey, Dayak's teachings actually paid off." I said.

"Yeah, I just hope she forgets about the battle to the death." Hunk said hunching his back.

"I'm sure she'll be proud." I added.

"Pfft, as if." Hunk stated, "Well we have to head back. See ya later." Hunk waved a the Galra and we followed his lead back to the lions. I reluctantly let Shiro's hand go feeling a pang of fear of having him be alone again, but I could not pilot Nimawe and watch him at the same time; if only I could split myself in two. We launched back into space heading back to the castle.

"Nice work out there, Hunk." Pidge praised, "That Galra training really toughened you up."

Snoring came over Hunk's channel, I smiled and shook my head. It had been a hard and stressful day for our Yellow Paladin, he deserved the rest. If only I could sit back and relax without a care in the world, but Shiro's predicament had me on edge. It was a mystery to me, why the white lion had attacked him. It seemed it wanted for him to come undone and break under its pressure. I needed to stay vigilant for another attack. I was not going to let Shiro get hurt by it again. No one was going to harm my mate; if it dared to do it again, it was going to meet the wrath of the Golden Drakie. I was going to fight for what was mine to the very end.

* * *

Thanks for reading!

I wanted to post this chapter earlier but just been really busy so sorry about the wait.

Also, thanks for all your lovely comments,

 _Absolutely good, Taylin really is an amazing oc. If you have to or have a drawing of Taylin, what would she look like?_

I don't have an image of her, but I have always imagined her with brown hair, honey green eyes, and a mesmerizing beauty , one that would rival Allura's. I have mostly left her to your imagination.


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

 **Monsters & Mana**

Everything went smooth from our time on the shield generator. I was happy that Shiro did not suffer another mental breakdown and the white lion had not attacked his mind again. When we arrived back at the castle, he had let me examine his mind, but surprisingly, I could not find any of the dark force I had felt before, the essence all belonged to him. Perhaps, I really did manage to scare the white sentinel off after our battle in the spiritual plane, but I still did not comprehend why it had targeted him. Shiro, being human, did not have a deep connection to the quintessence around him or as Pidge liked to call it, magic.

What Allura, Storm and I did broke the scientific barriers and could not be explained, which only annoyed our Green Paladin more. Pidge had tried to use her scientific genius to figure out how I had gotten my powers, but always came up blank. Not even a sample of my blood would allow her to see what really made me tick; I only told her I was born that way.

Lance had explained of fictional characters back on Earth about people who called themselves superheroes and went around saving others and battling the forces of evil, none of them were real, but I was. I wondered what my encounter will be like on Earth, when I would get to meet other humans. I hoped they accepted me for who I was, Storm as well. It was not every day you got to meet a talking dragon, let alone a being who spoke only through thought. Earthlings believed dragons to be mythical creatures; how wrong had they been.

Days began to pass by like water through our fingers, Allura had become closer to Lotor and often found herself in the Garla central command hangar working on the ship that would pass into the quintessence field. She was determined to end this war and supply the empire with the quintessence they needed to replace their hunger for blood. I didn't like it one bit the way Lotor always trailed behind her like a lost pup. I had started seeing the strong connection developing between the two even though Allura always denied it; I was no stranger to the feeling. I had tried to deny my feeling for Shiro in the beginning, but they had proven to be stronger than my will. I hold no regret about falling in love, but Allura and Lotor, that was a thing I was trying very hard to process. Maybe it was her stubborn dislike for the Galra that made me think that way, but Lotor's willingness to help us had made her change her perspective. Allura was creating a love triangle without knowing. It made me feel really bad for Lance, who suffered in silence watching them work. Lance's feeling were true, but Allura was blind to them. Anyone in our team could see how much he yearned for her, but she only saw him as a comrade, not a lover. In my opinion, Allura should have chosen Lance. A person who we actually knew their true intentions; Lotor was a hard man to read. Every time we conversed, something told me he was hiding something; Lotor was not telling us the whole truth. All the facts pointed to him being a change man, but a thought in the back of my head always nagged at me; what if he betrayed us? And what could I do to see beyond his words? Intruding in his mind had come to thought, but I would be breaking the trust we had established, so my only option was to wait and watch, to see if he proved me wrong; I sincerely hoped he did.

My mind grew tired of reading some ancient Drakie texts Coran had managed to find in the castle's memory drives. Mostly it was about the types of Drakie and Drakos and the abilities they possessed, but it did not go into too much detail in my blood line. What I did find was a story father use to tell me when I was a young girl. It told the story of how the golden Drakie got its scales.

Once an ancient king decided to see how far he could fly, so he climbed the highest mountain and took flight from its peak. He had crystal clear scales that glittered in the sunlight and casted rainbows all around Negetia. He flew so high in the sky that his scales became enchanted by the rays of the sun making them a golden color. The fable use to fascinate me until I grew up and found out it was just a simple bed time story.

I got up from my bed and stretched my arms in the air, my bones popped into place making me sigh. I set the data pad down and headed out of my room to search for the others. Storm had been absent for a few vargas and had not contacted me just to know what I was doing, which was strange of him. I expanded my mind out to him and noticed he was concentrated on a task, but it was not clear to me what he was up to. I followed his energy signature and came upon the lounge doors, the lights were dimmed and inside was Storm, Shiro, Coran, Pidge and Hunk sitting by a round hologram. They all had their eyes closed like if their minds were absent from their bodies that's when I realized why Storm had not acknowledge my presence, he had connected everyone's minds to he's. I took a few steps forward and leaned over the couch to wave a hand over Shiro's face, but he seemed unaffected by the gesture.

"Umm, guys?" I asked confused.

The mice had followed me inside and analyzed the others as well chirping away in their own language. One of them took a figuring from the table and shoved it in its mouth; the others suddenly came back to their senses making me jump and almost fall on my behind.

"Shoo, shoo!" Coran told it making the mouse drop the figure and move away from the hologram board.

"Did I really die in the game?" Shiro asked.

"Yes." Coran answered.

"What do you mean you died?" I asked confused announcing my presence.

Hunk yelped and looked behind him scared, but relaxed when he saw it was just me.

"Oh, hey Taylin." Pidge waved, "We are playing a game and Storm is making up the world in his head. It's fascinating, it's like were really there!"

 _"It's true, this game is really entertaining."_ Storm commented with content.

Hunk scooted over making room for me and I climbed down to take a seat, taking a closer look at the board.

"Your pulling everyone minds into yours?" I asked.

 _"Yes, and creating the scenery to suite our purpose. The mouse came into the range of my expanded mind set and connected to it, bringing him into the fantasy."_ He chuckled, _"He ate Shiro."_

I smiled at the image of a mouse taking down a full-grown man; Shiro looked annoyed and groaned.

"Don't worry." Coran assured him taking hold of the figurine, "You can just make a new character."

Shiro took the figure from him and placed it back on the board, "I'm going to be a paladin again."

"Oh, come one now." Coran protested.

"Shiro, you're already a paladin." I said with a chuckle, "You can be whatever you please and Storm can make it so."

"Yeah, you could be someone completely different." Coran stated, "Like a maven, a mage, a cleric, a klazgool, a bard."

Shiro crossed his arms, "I don't know what's more fulfilling than being a paladin."

"You're already a paladin in real life!" Coran raged baring his teeth; Hunk hid behind me scared Coran would go on a rant.

The doors to the lounge opened revealing Lance and Allura looking confused.

"Is everything all right?" Allura asked, "We heard yelling."

"We're all good." Pidge voiced.

"Just a minor disagreement, nothing to worry about." I said with a smile, I placed a hand on Shiro's shoulders trying to get him to let go of his frown.

"What's going on?" Lance asked getting closer.

"We're playing Monsters and Mana." Coran answered.

"Monsters and huh?" Lance scratched his head in perplexity.

"It's a game." Coran explained brining up a book.

"It's fun." Pidge added.

Lance leaned forward to examine the book, "I don't know. How can a game that needs a book be fun?"

Coran placed it down and answered with a smile, "You ought to read it and find out."

"Nah." Lance responded bored.

"I've been playing Monsters and Mana since I was a boy." Coran began, "My bandmates and I, the Pirate Polychoral, used to play it all the time. I was always the Lore Master."

Storm laughed, _"You were in a band?"_

"Indeed." Coran stated straightening up with pride, "Ah, those were good times."

"So, how do you play?" Allura asked coming to sit next to her advisor.

"Okay, each person creates a fantastical character." Coran explained, "The character is represented by a figurine on this holo-map which is then created my Storm's imagination. That part is new, we didn't have a Drako playing back then. Anyways, each player gets a turn, and every turn they say what they want to do. The Lore Master, me, knows the difficulty of the task. The person must roll a 20-sided die to see if they can accomplish their actions. The dice is mostly rolled in Storm's mind since he is basically controlling the game with my help."

Lance gasped, "A 20-sided dice? How big is that thing?"

"It's normal-sized, it just has 20 sides." Pidge answered plainly adjusting her spectacles.

"No. No, no, no." Lance protested, "It's got 20 sides? It's gotta be the size of a Yalexian pearl."

Coran showed him the dice which was as small as a pebble with glowing numbers on each of its faucets.

"Oh." Lance voiced.

 _"You my friend lack imagination."_ Storm pointed out.

"Do you want to play?" Coran asked.

"Don't you guys have something better do to right now?" Lance asked crossing his arms, "Like, I don't know, universe-defending stuff?"

"Hunk and I ran into a snag upgrading the Castle's shields." Pidge said, "We're running a diagnostic, but all we can do is wait."

"I'm trying to take a mental break." Shiro voiced, "We've been going really hard lately."

I gave him a small smile and leaned my head on his shoulder; Shiro smirked.

"I'll play." Allura said with a smile, "Lotor's busy handling his imperial responsibilities, and I'm at an impasse with the comet ship. Plus, it sounds fun."

"I'm in too." I stated, "I need something to distract my mind from all the reading I been doing lately. Doing something different always helps."

"Yeah, I already worked out today, so I guess I don't have anything going on." Lance stated perking up at having something to do with Allura, "Might as well play your nerd game."

Coran pulled up some small data pads and handed one to Lance, Allura, and I, "Here, these will help you create your characters with the interface loaded onto them. Once you are finished, Storm will see into your mind and create the character until you become it."

I looked down at the data pad and began to scroll through the options available to create my character, "I'm already a queen, been a princess, a knight? Nah. Oh this seems interesting." I stopped to analyze the data on the character, it seemed like a good decision.

 _"Does everyone have their characters?"_ Storm asked.

I looked up with a smile, "Yes, I got mine."

"Me too." Allura voiced.

"I think I have mine, I don't know." Lance said unhappily.

"Now it's time to begin the heroes' journey." Coran stated, and we closed our eyes letting Storm drift us into he' and when I reopened them, I was in a completely different world. I stood up high in a tree with the sun barely shining through the tick branches. I looked down at myself and saw I wore brown leather boots with tan pants and a white shirt that stopped at the top of my shoulders embraided with silver lace. My back was adorned by a fury black cape and when I touched my head I noticed I had pointed ears like a feline and also a smooth black tail.

I heard voices further down the forest and I began to jump from tree to tree with ease without my feet ever faltering. I landed near a clearing and saw three figures, one wearing a horned helmet, another with a black cloak around their head with visible white and gold armor and the last one had a long-curved walking stick. I watched them keep walking from high above the trees, stalking them in silence like a beast does with its prey. I beard my fangs and scraped my silver claws together in anticipation; they had no idea I was here which only made it more thrilling. I was about to pounce on the one holding the walking stick when the smaller of them placed a hand up, stopping them from moving forward. They analyzed their surroundings looking up at a tree opposite of me.

"Watch out!" The small one said, and they quickly moved out of the way, an arrow almost gracing them. The projectile embedded itself on a plant looking creature, in-between its eyes, and fell dead on its back. It suddenly disappeared revealing a small brown pouch.

A girl jumped down from a tree with long white hair wearing pink and white armor; a bow tightly held in her left hand. She landed harshly on the forest floor and complained getting up, "I'm the mystical archer Valayun, searching for the rune stone of Lapham." Valayun introduced herself.

"What quest are you on?" She asked them excitedly.

"Block's town was turned to stone by an evil wizard." The horned one said, "We tracked him down through his special crystals."

Just when she finished a smoke bomb fell down and exploded into a grey gas cloud making them gasp loudly. The smoke cleared up exposing a humanoid with brown hair and ears of the same color; he held the small sack in his hand, "Hey, hey-hey, hey!"

"Whoa!" The cleric said, "Where'd you come from?"

"The name's Pike." He answered, "I was going to rob you clodhoppers of your junk, but it sounds like the bigger score is helping you jack this wizard with the crystals."

"So, you chose a thief, huh?" Pidge said breaking character.

"I'm not a thief." Lance protested, "I'm a ninja assassin, the silent killer." He poofed again and appeared behind Shiro and Pidge leaning up against them, "My victims never know I'm coming 'cause I don't say a word." He sneaked behind them, their eyes trailing him, "They look around, don't see anything, so they drop their guard, but what they don't realize..." He vanished again, this time out of sight, "Is that I'm lurking in the shadows, silently watching." He laughed trying to sound diabolical, but it only made me want to make fun of him.

Lance appeared in front of them again counting the coins inside the pouch, crouching down.

"Yeah, you're very quiet." Shiro the paladin pointed out with sarcasm.

"But I do steal things." Lance said jiggling the coins, "That's a lot of what my character does."

Lance was beginning to get on my nerves with his cockiness; a low growl escaped my lips and I jumped from the branch to land on him. The coins scattered all around us, they fell with small thuds. Lance screamed when I let out a growl digging my claws onto his back. I watched him squirm under me until I laughed and retracted my nails 'til they looked normal.

Lance stood up brushing the dirt off his clothes, "What a hell, Taylin!"

A kept-on laughing holding my stomach, tears began to emanate from the corner of my eyes, "Oh, ha, ha, you should have seen your face of horror... You call yourself a ninja when I snuck up on you without making a sound. Oh, and in here I am not Taylin, my name is Nox the changeling, shape shifter of the night." I bowed my head slightly, my ears pressing back onto my head.

Lance crossed his arms with an annoyed stare, "Yeah, so, Taylin."

I growled again, and he took a step back placing his hands in front of him; the others laughed.

Lance poofed and appeared behind Pidge examining her, "You're a dwarf, huh?"

"Oh, yeah." She answered with a smile, "I'm Meklavar, a dwarven miner whose precious family heirloom the Jewel of Jitan, was stolen. I'm on a quest to retrieve it."

"Precious family heirloom." Lance said sneakily, "Mm..."

"Well, it's very fortunate that I arrived here." Allura said gaining our attention, "I can aid you on your quest. I'll summon amount." She pulled out an arrow from her quiver and shot it into the sky. It exploded creating pink bright light rings and a portal opened. A creature with paws and blue wings appeared flying up into the sky before is swooped down to land before us. We watched it with fascination; it sort of looked like a lion but with white feathers all over its body.

Allura moved to climb onto its back and motioned for us to follow. I leaped on right behind her and held onto its feathers, Pidge ended up between Lance and I while Hunk and Shiro took the rear. The beast, seeing everyone had boarded, jumped up into the sky and the familiar feeling of freedom washed over me like all the times I had taken flight on Storm's back. Pidge lets a joyful yell and I joined her by yapping with content.

The beast flew so fast that we had reached our destination in a matter of doboshes. A temple constructed onto the mountain peak, high up in the sky covered by the white clouds of the cold environment. The creature landed by an entrance tunnel and we jumped off to follow the trail. The air was chilly in here and the tunnel only became darker as we journeyed further inside. We came to a stop by a dark entrance and on each side stood two winged statues holding spears in their hands with their heads ignited in blue fire; it was the only light for miles.

"Did anyone remember to bring torches?" Hunk asked.

I blinked and suddenly we were back in the castle's lounge room, everyone looked confused at Storm.

 _"Don't look at me, I didn't disrupt the mental links."_ Storm defended himself, _"It was our brave paladin over there."_

We turned our gaze toward Shiro who wore an unamused look, "I really think my character would have remembered a torch."

Coran inched toward him with a smirk, "Oh, yeah? Why don't you check your little inventory there?"

Shiro scrolled down on the screen with a pout which I thought looked adorable, I leaned my arm on the hologram table looking at him dreamily; Storm rolled his eyes.

 _"You are so captivated."_

 _"That... I am."_

"Oh, no torches, eh?" Coran retorted, "Then I guess you forgot to bring them."

I lost my dreamy smile and groaned alongside the others, I leaned back in my seat analyzing the things I had in my storage but nothing useful popped up, "My powers would have been useful right about now, though, I can see in the dark."

"Everyone can hold onto Nox's tail then." Hunk said in thought, "She can guide us through."

"Oh, I don't know." I stated, "Someone is going to end up pulling at it too hard."

"Oh, I have something!" Allura exclaimed excitedly.

"What?" Lance asked.

"A glowing arrow." She answered, "It should give us enough light to let us pass through."

 _"Now that that's settled, we can go back in."_ Storm said and dragged our minds back into the fictional world to stand before the dark entrance. Allura pulled out an arrow and the head began to glow illuminating the darkness. She took point and we trailed behind her silently. The walls of the tunnel had grey vines growing on their surface and the decorative arches looked worn-out. Lance and Hunk looked scared as we ventured on, but after a few doboshes, we came to a dead end.

"It's just a wall." Hunk said as Allura shined her light around trying to find an entrance of some sort, "But this is where we're supposed to go, right?"

Pidge seeped forward and set her axe down and began to trail her hands on the surface of the wall, "Maybe there's a secret here."

Lance cocked his head and came to stand before the barrier, "Maybe you just have to knock." He knocked on the wall causing a hollow noise letting me know that there was actually something on the other side. A bright light suddenly appeared where he had knocked and began to expand out forming an outline of two double doors with encryptions on each side. The glow died down revealing the physical doors; Lance smiled at his accomplishment, "What can I say? I'm good at puzzles and junk." He leaned forward to grab the handles, but Pidge stopped him.

"Wait, there could be traps. You have to check for them."

"Why do I have to check for 'em?" Lance retorted.

"Because you're the thief." I stated placing a hand on my hip.

"You're the only one in the group with that skill." Pidge added sassily.

Lance turned around to face us, "How do I even check for traps?"

Storms voice suddenly sounded inside the tunnel and a gust of wind passed by, the die appeared on the ground in a flash of light, _"Roll the 20-sided die, that will add your check for traps skill to the roll. If it's high enough, you'll remove the trap."_

"And if it's too low?" Lance asked.

Storm chuckled evilly, _"Simple, you set off the trap."_

Lance leaned down to pick up the dice, he shook it a couple of times, and threw it on the ground. He watched it roll with a scared frown, placing his hands pack on the doors handles, until it stopped spinning on its axis, "Oh, man!" The handles immediately retreated trapping his hands inside of the doors. Lance grunted trying to set himself free, but the doors began to crack sending a loud crashing sound throughout the tunnel, lifting dust into the air. The ground beneath our feet gave out and we plummeted down a hole screaming as we fell. The tunnel soon ended, and we came out into an abyss; I wrapped my legs around Shiro's shoulder and clung to his armor in fright as I noticed the spikes below.

Hunk quickly casted a spell of levitation and rounded yellow creatures appeared in our hands, flapping their wings rapidly. I let go of Shiro, tightens my hold on the squawking bird.

"Great work there, Block." Shiro praised, "Let's keep going."

We passed the spikes and landed on a safe spot by an entrance were a green monster suddenly appeared. It had jagged teeth and a long-pointed talons. Shiro pulled out his sword to engage it, but it suddenly lashed out with its tail and sent him flying towards a wall. I bared my teeth and my fangs grew out along with my claws. My body grew in size making me stronger as I thought of turning into a mutt. I pressed my ears close to my head and howled before launching myself at the beast and tearing at its skin with my silver claws. It roared at me and pushed me off, but I quickly side stepped it and bit down on its shoulder, tearing open its flesh on one of its main blood veins. It howled in pain for a tick and fell down at my feet with a loud thud. The others looked at me with shocked expressions, horrified. I cleaned the luminescent green blood from my mouth with my fur, "What? Someone had to do something, unless you wanted to become its lunch."

Hunk took a step back with a nervous chuckle.

I smirked, "I don't bite... much."

"Oh, ha, ha." Lance mocked.

"Come on let's keep moving." Shiro said standing up.

We fought monster after monster in each chamber that we entered. Lance and Allura got stuck in a dark goo and I had to grow in size to pull them out. We had to fight hundreds of flying bats before we came upon a gold entrance, really worn out. We all hung our heads ready to pass out.

"Okay, what's next?" Lance asked.

We opened our eyes and looked inside the chamber, our eyes gleamed at the tons of treasure that littered the floor. My jaw dropped at the sight.

"Oh, mamma mia." Lance gasped.

"Look at all this treasure." Hunk said.

"It's our reward for getting past all those traps." Pidge stated.

We entered, and I ran up to the nearest chest taking the golden coins into my hands. They felt cold to the touch and clinked on my claws.

"This is more like it." Lance said filling his satchel with as much gold as he could fit, "We fall for traps all the time in real life and we never get treasure."

I dug deeper into the pile of gold and squealed when I noticed a pair of identical armor plating for the hands. I placed them on and they suddenly wrapped around my claws and decorated them in shinny gold coating. I rushed back the chest and swiped at the top of its compartment; my claws cut perfectly through it. "This is amazing!" I exclaimed and lashed out on another chest spilling the gold coins on the ground.

The others also found interesting objects; Allura found a quick draw quiver with magical arrows, Pidge found a pair of gloves that could absorb any elemental matter, Lance got an invisibility cloak, Hunk picked up a bowl that never ran out of food, and Shiro a new sword.

He lifted it up toward the sky and suddenly the body ignited in flames, "Wow, a blazing sword. Hey, guys, check it-" Shiro was cut off when a strange red electrical current appeared in the air and zapped him into nothingness. I let out a scream and ran up to the place where he used to stand in shock; only the sword and his crown remained.

Pidge gasped and bended down to reach for the crown, "Ooh, he dropped a rare item."

"Meklavar!" I snapped making her jump back.

Someone laughed to our left and we turned to see a very robust maid with her hand sparking with the same red electricity that had zapped Shiro. I knew this was all in my head, that's why I was not worried about Shiro's well-being, but I could not help myself. I burst out laughing breaking the mental link.

Everyone looked at me with irritated expressions as I continued to laugh, "Oh...Coran, that's your character." I could not stop my fit and placed my forehead on the table trying to calm down. I managed to do so after a few ticks but then Storm placed an image of Coran's character in my head and I burst out laughing again, "Storm...stop..." He joined; his laugh echoing in the heads of everyone, soon the others were laughing as well. My stomach was starting to hurt, and I leaned back on my seat taking deep breaths and wiping the tears from my eyes.

"You okay there?" Shiro asked amused.

"I'm fined." I managed to say in a huff, "Oh Coran, you just made my day."

He bowed his head and placed a hand to his heart in reverence, "It's a pleasure, my lady."

"You're the lady." Lance said with a grin.

"Yeah, we freaked out too when we saw him the first time." Pidge stated, "It was pretty funny."

Storm let out a puff of air through his nostrils, _"Well then, lets finish this game. It keeps getting better and better."_

I took a deep breath and let Storm guide me back into his mind and when I opened my eyes we stood where we had left off, with the menacing stare of the Innkeeper.

"Fools!" He said deeply.

"Hey, Innkeeper." Hunk said, "What are you doing here?"

The Innkeeper laughed loudly with a devilish grin, "You dumb-dumbs. I only run the inn to trick foolish adventurers into gathering valuable crystals for me. Thank you for bringing them directly to my lair."

"Who is this guy?" Lance asked.

"So, you're Dakin?" Hunk asked.

"You were behind this all along!" Pidge accused.

Dakin laugh even more and began to spin in place lifting up a dust cloud, "This is where your adventure ends." When the dust cleared up, in the innkeeper's place, hovered a cloaked figure with yellowish eyes and an orange mustache. A lightning bolt came down from the ceiling and struck behind us revealing another paladin.

He lifted his sword up and proclaimed, "I'm Shiro's twin brother, Jiro, here to complete Shiro's quest."

"A paladin again?" Pidge moaned.

I walked up to Jiro and wrapped my tail around his bicep placing my hands on my hips, "Let the poor man be, besides, that armor looks really good on him."

Jiro gave me a sheepish smile and a blush appeared on his cheeks.

Dakin cleared his throat gaining back our attention, "Only fools would enter my tomb of horrors. I am the most powerful wizard in all of Aurita."

"Oh, yeah? We don't care." Hunk yelled back, "We're here to turn my village back form stone, man."

"Your quest is in vain." Dakin responded, "I've already siphoned off their life force. You would have to permanently defeat me in order to restore it." The claw decorating his wand opened and ignited a small fire twister. "But instead, I will become the most powerful being in all the planes." He shot a fireball at Jiro who covered himself with his shield in the tick of time. "I'm going to evaporate you, just like I did with your twin brother!"

Dakin shot again at Jiro.

"Not if I have something to say about it!" I growled taking a fighting stance.

"Yeah, let's get him!" Allura yelled and aimed an arrow at him.

She fired two arrows until Dakin warped and fired an electrical current, she jumped out of the way before impact, the bolt ended up hitting Meklavar. The dwarf was electrocuted until she fell face down on the dirt.

"Healing Arrow." Allura called and shot at her restoring Pidge back to health; she stood up with her axe ready to strike.

Jiro began to swipe his sword in the air, "I will avenge my twin." He ran towards Dakin with his black cloak trailing behind him dodging the incoming fireballs. Hunk hit him with a water spot spell from behind momentarily disorienting him. I took my chance and shifted back into my mutt form leaping up at Dakin lashing at him with my armored claws, I managed to push him towards a wall; I landed beside Hunk. Dakin recovered quickly and turned around to through a fireball, but thankfully Lance appeared, cloaked, pulling us out of the way. Hunk casted another spell which made Pidge grow in size while Dike was distracted blasting a torrent of fire at Jiro. Pidge raised her axe and brought it down upon him, crashing Dakin onto the floor.

"We did it!" Pidge exclaimed in a very deep voice.

"Hooray!" We cheered.

Hunk began to shrink Pidge back to her normal size, "We defeated the bad guy!"

"Yeah!" Lance agreed with a grin, "I hope this stone villagers have a little cold hard cash for us."

"Wow. This game is so amazing." Shiro voiced, "It requires problem solving, team work, creativity. All the skills you'd want to imbue when doing team-building exercises."

"Stop trying to ruin our fun with learning." Lance shot at him.

Shiro was about to retaliate when laughing echoed inside the chamber, we turned to look towards Dakin's resting place, but this time it was not his voice, it sounded rougher, deeper. A voice I had heard all my life.

"Fools. You did exactly as I planned." Storm said. The smoke revealed him with dark crimson scales and a yellow glowing 'V' shaped insignia on his chest. His eyes blazed a bright red and he stood on his hind legs, towering over us. "Dakin was just another one of my puppets, I am the true master mind. I am Odirr, slayer of nights, devourer of souls. Only by being slain by a pure of heart on this evil altar could I become the all-powerful Typhoon Dragon!" Odirr slammed his clawed paw near us making us take a few steps back, he bared his sharp teeth, saliva dripping from his fangs. It landed on the floor with a sizzling sound.

"We aren't powerful enough to defeat a dragon, much less a Typhoon one." Pidge pointed out.

Odirr opened his jaws wider and spit a tunnel of fire at our direction; we jumped out of the way in the nick of time, but he still managed to grace Hunk's leg. I bared my fangs and growled, "Two can play at that game." I moved to take cover behind a pillar and closed my eyes in concentration imagining a dragon form in my head for me to shape shift. I clenched my jaws together, but nothing seemed to happen. Someone collide with the pillar I hid behind and Odirr slammed at with his tail. I ducked covering my head from the pieces of stone and jumped to my feet dragging Allura to the side.

"I'm low on mana." Hunk informed, "I can't cast any of my big spells."

"I only have one summoning arrow left." Allura added.

"Get back." Shiro, I mean Jiro, ordered, "I'll draw its attacks."

"Like that worked so well the last time." I stated watching him run up to Odirr, slashing at his leg with his sword which caused zero damage. Odirr flicked him of with one of his talons to a nearby pillar.

"We'll never defeat it without a plan." Hunk said, "Secret!" Hunk broke the mental link and motioned for us to follow him away from Coran and Storm. He huddled together speaking in hushed voices.

"So, what's the plan?" Lance asked.

"Odirr is too powerful, none of us has the strength to take him down." Pidge stated.

"I know I can do something with my powers, but I can't seem to shift into anything else besides a mutt." I said with a frown.

"I only have one more arrow." Allura voiced, "I have to use it wisely or I won't have any mean of defending myself."

"That's it!" I exclaimed lowly, everyone turned their gaze to me, "We can use Allura's summoning arrow to help me transform into something that can help us defeat Odirr. If I can shift into a dragon then I will be able to rival Odirr's strength and even defeat him."

"But what if the arrow turns you into something else?" Allura asked concerned.

"We'll just have to try otherwise we will lose to Storm, he is cunning. He has reinforced his scales with metal, Shiro's sword won't be able to penetrate his body or Pidge's axe for that matter. Lance can distract Odirr while Allura helps me transform. Pidge and Hunk will set a trap around him with those special gloves of hers and ignite a fire ring around him, trapping him inside." I responded.

"Who's going to draw him in?" Lance asked.

"You are." I said.

"What?"

"You are the only one fast enough to do it, plus the invisibility cloak will help you."

"All right then, it's the best plan we have." Shiro backed me.

"Seriously." Hunk huffed.

"Let's hope you don't turn into a sparkling unicorn." Lance seethed.

Hunk turned around noticing Coran edging forward, "Hey, I cast 'secret'. You can't listen to us."

We finished our secret conversation and sat back in our seats, "Okay, were ready." I said to Storm. He nodded his head and placed us back into the game.

"Secret received." We said in unison.

"Let's do this." Allura said with determination.

Lance began to flare his arms catching Odirr's attention, "Nanny-nanny boo-boo! Nanny-nanny boo-boo! Come on, come and get me!"

"Now, Valayun!" I yelled.

She aimed her arrow at me and I silently prayed it would work. I felt the arrow hit my chest and a bright white light engulf me, my appendages began to shift until I stood on four paws and my neck extended out further from my body. I opened my eyes and saw that I had indeed turned into what I wanted, a dragon. Since Allura had used her magic arrow, my scales took a glittering pink color, but I had no time to admire them. I leaped up into the air taking flight toward Jiro and he leaped onto my back drawing his sword which ignited into flames. I banked to my left toward Odirr and dived down avoiding his talons. Jiro ignited the black cobble stones set by Pidge and they immediately began to burn in a circle around him. Odirr groaned and roared feeling the flames lick at his armored scales. I spit a torrent of fire making the flames hotter and they began to engulf him until he was swallowed whole and exploded with a bright light into sparkling dust. The mental link broke and we cheered at our victory.

"It worked!" I exclaimed with a wide smile rising my arms in the air.

Storm growled not taking his defeat too lightly.

"So much fun!" Allura stated.

"Like, too much fun." Hunk said with a grin, "Great idea to transmute that food into oil."

"Yeah, if only we could transmute the particle barrier's polarity." Pidge stated.

Hunk chuckled and placed a finger to his chin, "Yeah. To do that you'd need some kind of quantum shift network to simulate a collapse of the wave pocket into a darkening perplexity."

"Yeah, and that would be impossible without..." Pidge trailed off in thought.

Both of them gasped and turned to look at each other, "Changing the Planck Constant." Pidge and Hunk stood up and ran out of the room towards their lab to keep working on the particle barrier.

"Somehow I understand the fantasy words better than the science ones." Lance said expressionless.

"I can get over how great that game was." Shiro stated with a smile, "And my head feels so much better. Thank you, Coran. Oh, and you, Storm, as well. You brought all of this to life."

Storm nodded his head in appreciation and bared his teeth a little to smile.

I leaned my head on Shiro's shoulder content to hear of his well-being; he wrapped an arm around my shoulder brining me closer.

Coran crossed his arms, "The game isn't over yet. Wait until you find out who Odirr was working for. Maybe you'll finally be able to avenge your master."

"How can you have an adventure ready to avenge my master?" Shiro asked, "I just made that story up."

"We also made it all up, Shiro." Coran stated pointing at Storm and himself, "That's the real magic of Monsters and Mana."

"That was incredible!" Allura voiced, "It's crazy how long we've been playing."

"Indeed, I lost track of time." I said, "It was like living in another world and getting away from our routine lives."

"Yeah, we have a pretty good time together, don't we?" Lance said.

Allura chuckled, "We sure do."

A small screen appeared before her beeping of an incoming transmission, she tapped on the button and it revealed Lotor, "Allura, I have grand news. The ship is ready to begin testing."

"Fabulous." Allura smiled, "Let's try it." She climbed out of her seat and headed to meet Lotor leaving a frowning Lance behind.

"So, who wants to play another round?" Coran asked.

"I'm in." Shiro responded.

"Sure, count me in." Lance said sadly.

"Me too." I added with a wide smile looking up at Shiro who return the gesture.

 _"I like this game. So, nobody is playing without me. I'm going to win this time."_ Storm stated happily enjoying being the villain for once.

Shiro moved his figuring toward Storm, "I want to be a paladin again."

Coran and Lance groaned in protest at Shiro's statement; Coran even fell off his seat.

"What?" Shiro asked confused.

I placed a hand to his cheek turning him to face me, "Don't mind them, you can be a paladin all you want as long as you're my brave paladin."

Shiro chuckled, "So, does that mean you'll be a princess?"

"Not preciously." I laughed.

Shiro placed a finger under my chin lightly forgetting the others sitting a few feet away, "I am your paladin, and you are my queen."

* * *

Hey everyone!

Sorry about uploading until now, I have been extremely busy since last week with so much work.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.

Thanks for all your lovey comments.


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

 **Deception**

I felt so much better after playing Monsters & Mana a couple of times with Shiro, Coran, Lance and Storm. We went on so many adventures and I even got to meet a Drakie version of Storm, which I thought was interesting. To see how Storm imagined himself in another form enthralled me. He would take turns being the villain or the hero with Coran, but it did not escape me how he would often try to aim for Shiro. It was clear Storm held some type of dislike for him and I believed it was that he took time I could have easily spent with him. There was no way to fix this, but to have the most important males of my life get use to each other. Storm knew I was promised to Shiro, we were sort of a package deal. He marries me and gets a Drako as well. It gave me a nice satisfaction that after the third game, Shiro and Storm began to work together, they even began to have casual conversations. I watched them with a smile and retreated in my seat letting them bond.

We had finished playing and Storm bid us a goodnight, but before he exited the room he said plainly, _"I like him… you have my blessing."_ With that said, he left humming to himself. My smile only grew wider and Shiro asked me what had me so beaming with happiness. I took his face in my hands and kissed him on the lips without warning, catching him off guard. It felt incredible to have everything falling into place and soon I would me wedded to the most handsome human in the universe. I would have to mention it to the others soon, we have kept them in the dark about our engagement because of everything that had been going on. Shiro's proposal had been so sudden it did not give me time to prepare mentally and emotionally, but is anyone really ready for this sort of thing?

The very next day, Allura woke us up very early to head to the opening of the rift. She commanded us to get up and meet her in the control room over the castle's speakers. I had fallen off my bed looking for any sign of danger in the dark, but relaxed when Allura explained her motives. I grumbled and got dressed in my paladin armor rapidly heading to the control room along with the other sleepy Paladins. Pidge adjusted her spectacles on her nose and stretch letting out a loud yawn. Both Hunk and she had dark bags under their eyes; they had spent almost all night getting the particle barrier to work properly. Storm intersected us half way there and arched his back stretching his muscles letting out a low whine.

 _"I finally figured it out."_ Storm said sleepily.

 _"What did you find out?"_ I asked confused.

 _"Lotor is secretly trying to kill us by depriving us of sleep."_ He rambled, _"It's the greatest master plan anyone could come up with."_

 _"Your speaking nonsense."_ I said amused.

Storm answered with a low yawn and followed along with droopy wings, his tail slithering close to the ground.

When we enter the control room, Coran stood by his control panel watching the dead planet of the Galra, Daibazzal, come closer. Allura appeared to be already with Lotor, preparing on the comet ship, to enter the rift that had destroyed Zarkon's planet so long ago. We were back where it all started. The Paladins of old had to destroy the Galra planet and evacuate all its inhabitants because of the risk of an ever-expanding rift. If they had let it grow, the whole universe would have been swallowed by the quintessence field. It was a great sacrifice, but one that could have been avoided if Zarkon heeded my father's and King Alfor's warnings. He blamed us all for the destruction of his planet and now Altea and Negetia stood in the same state. Its disturbing how the hunger for power could corrupt a person's being.

The main hologram screen came online and Allura and Lotor began to prepare to leave the castle. I came to stop at Coran's side not wanting to miss any moment of the process. Having Allura go into the quintessence field had me on edge, because if something went wrong, I would not be able to help her.

"Beginning system check." Lotor's voice came through, "Front and rear stabilizers."

"Front and rear stabilizers are go." Allura informed.

"Quintessence collection array."

"Quintessence collection array is go."

"Infracells."

"Infracells up."

"Dynotherms."

"Dynotherms connected."

"Switching on mega-thrusters."

"Mega-thrusters are go."

The ship began to power on in the castle's hangar area, slowly lifting itself off the ground.

"I can't be the only one who sees that this is nuts, right?" Hunk voiced his concern, "I mean, just getting in there is a long shot. Then they have to make it out again?"

"I agree with Hunk." Coran said with a frown, crossing his arms, "This plan is a foolhardy and unnecessary risk."

"Yes, I think they should have waited before jumping right into the quintessence field." I said playing with my fingers nervously.

"I don't know." Pidge stated, "We've traveled through the quintessence field to another reality. This isn't just theoretical physics. Mathematically, we know it's possible."

Coran suddenly jumped back to place his face close to Pidge's, "Well, it's hard to argue with math. Believe me, I've tried."

"But even if they do reach the quintessence field, then what?" Lance asked, "Last time anyone got in there, it turned Zarkon evil."

Coran rushed to his side placing a hand on his shoulder, "Lance makes a fine point! Take that math!"

"I'm not so much worried about Allura in that perspective, I know she is pure of heart." I said, "The guardians of the temple of Oriande wouldn't have let her through if she wasn't and I have known her all my life, but with Lotor…. I don't know. Anyone who is untrained or likes the feel of ultimate power could easily lose themselves. We don't know how great Lotor's ambition is and if our trip inside the white hole proved anything, it's that he was not worthy to learn the secrets of Altean alchemy."

"Zarkon fell prey to his own evil instincts." Shiro added, "The quintessence field didn't create them, it revealed them."

 _"We'll just have to see what it will reveal of Lotor."_ Storm stated lifting his head up high.

The comet ship launched, and we watched the vessel approach Daibazzal and disappear behind a few floating rocks. This was the moment of truth, if it worked there would be endless amount of energy to supply the Galra Empire, but if it didn't, then the war would continue. We would be stuck in a battle between two fronts, not a lot of people looked kindly at Voltron working alongside Lotor.

We lost all communications with them once they entered the field, but after a few doboshes a ship appeared on the castle's radar; it seemed to be coming straight for us. The alarms in the control room rung and the lights flashed red in warning.

"What is that?" Hunk asked.

"I've got an incoming craft." Coran informed.

"Shields up." Shiro ordered, "And pull it up on-screen."

Coran followed instruction and pulled up an image of the incoming ship, but to our surprise, it was an Altean pod.

"That… that can't be." Coran stuttered.

"All pods are secured in the bay area, it can't be one of ours." I said untrusting, remembering the time we encountered the other Alteans.

"Your right!" Coran exclaimed, "This Altean pod is really old!"

"What's it doin' out here?" Lance asked.

"Let's find out." Shiro said and Coran opened a frequency for him, "Attention, Altean pod, identify yourself."

A screen popped up revealing Keith is his marmoran outfit flying the pod, "Shiro, its Keith."

"Keith!" Shiro stammered, "Are you okay?"

"Where have you been?" Pidge asked.

"I told you to stay in contact." I scolded annoyed.

"How did you get your hands on that pod?" Coran asked.

"Does he look bigger to you guys?" Lance pointed it out, "He's bigger, right? No?"

"Where's Lotor?" Keith asked ignoring are questions and comments.

"He's in the quintessence field." Hunk answered.

"Oh, no." Keith growled angrily.

"Keith, what's going on?" I asked urgently seeing his reaction to his question.

"I'll explain in a bit, open the bay doors I'm coming aboard." He responded.

Coran lowered the shield and we ran out of the room to meet him. The pod came inside and landed swiftly before us. Keith hopped out and to my surprise, Lance had been right. Keith looked older and stronger than the last time I had seen him. He no longer looked like a young boy, but a well-defined young human adult, his raven hair was longer and reached a bit further down his neck.

"Keith, it's so good to see you." Shiro voiced with surprise.

Lance moved forward to analyze our comrade, "Hold on. How do we know you're the real Keith and not his bigger, cooler, grizzled older brother?"

Keith pushed passed him, "I don't have time for this, Lance!"

"Hey, everybody, Keith's back!" Lance exclaimed lifting his arms in the air.

"We need to stop Lotor." Keith said, "He's been lying to all of us!"

I stomach dropped and a feeling of fear began to wrap itself around my chest. My worst suspicions had come true, "What do you mean, Keith? What has he been lying about?"

"Everything!" A girl, who I had not noticed before answered; I was shocked to see the Altean markings on her face and the Galran woman standing beside her. Her resemblance looked familiar, but I could not place it.

"You're… you're Altean!" Coran stuttered.

"And who's the Galran?" Lance asked.

"Is that a wolf?" Hunk asked, pointing out the blueish mutt who eyed Storm with interest.

"Where did you come from?" Coran demanded.

"I promise I'll explain everything once we get to Lotor." Keith said.

"We can't get to him." Pidge retorted, "He just entered the quintessence field with Allura.

"We traveled through realities before." Keith stated, "Can't we fly in there and attack?"

"She said Allura is with him." Lance remarked, "We can't risk hurting her."

I pressed a hand to my forehead, "Why did this have to happen now. This is all my fault, if I had just paid more attention to Lotor, Allura would have been here to hear this."

I felt Shiro place a hand on my shoulder, "You couldn't have known. He's facade was perfect."

 _"Hmm, but now there is nothing to hold me back from tearing him limb from limb."_ Storm growled with hate.

"Why are we even attacking?" Hunk asked.

"Look, Keith— Everyone, calm down." Shiro spoke up, "When they return, we'll get this all sorted out."

"Let's head back to the control room, there you can explain everything that has happened to you." I said.

Everyone nodded their head and we began to journey back; my mind rushed with dozens of thoughts all at once like the sound of rushing waters. Storm's hatred seeped through our bond and his need to dig his claws into something intensified, but we still needed to learn what exactly Lotor was keeping from us. One thing was clear, it was nothing good. Keith would have not come rushing back to us if the matter was not important. I clenched my fists in anticipation, trying to block out Storm's feelings in order to stay clear headed.

We entered and Shiro was the first to speak, "Lance is right. You have changed."

"Time is different where I've been." Keith explained.

The Galran came to stand beside Keith to introduce herself, "Shiro, I am Krolia. Keith has told me all about you." She extended a hand to him in greeting, "Thank you for raising him to be the man he is today."

"Krolia is with the Blade of Marmora." Keith said, "Also… she's my mother."

Now I understood why she seemed so familiar, there was so much of her in Keith. They even had the same type of hair, eyes, and even their frowns looked identical.

"It's an honor to meet you." Shiro said with a smile.

Lance suddenly butted in front of him, "What?! Okay, this is nuts! You come back with your Galra mom, a wolf, and an Altean?"

"Yes, I'm still waiting to hear the story of how you found this Altean." Coran voiced.

"And why we're supposed to be attacking Lotor." Hunk added.

Keith turn his head slightly toward the Altean, "This is Romelle, and I think she should tell her own story."

"I come from a planet where there are thousands of Alteans, along with a few hundred Drakie under the leadership of Marel." Romelle began; my jaw dropped at her statement. Drakie! She was on a planet that had Drakie, my people. Storm was as perplexed as me, Marel, one of my elite guard warriors, had taken leadership of this group. Perhaps, the other members had survived. "We have lived there since the war with Zarkon began, when the kings of old sought to protect their people from the impending doom."

"What?" Coran stated, "That's impossible. Altea and Negetia were destroyed. Allura, Taylin, Storm and I were the only survivors."

"Every child, where I come from, knows the story of how Lotor saved us from destruction." Romelle continued, "When Zarkon attacked, many were off-planet on trading expeditions or battling for control in various sectors. When news spread about the destruction of our homes, those of us who remained went into hiding for deca-phoebs. But Lotor, with his deep knowledge of Altean culture, managed to track some of them down knowing fairly well, where they were Alteans, Drakie would surely follow."

"He managed to persuade them as their savior, didn't he?" I said through clenched teeth, "That despicable, quiznaking-" I took a deep breath stopping my rant motioning for Romelle to continue with a nod of my head.

"Lotor managed to come across one of the most important warriors in the Drakie kingdom, Marel. He persuaded him to follow along with the Alteans to a distant planet to keep them safe from Zarkon. Marel, in desperate need to find a safe haven for the remaining Drakies and Drakos, agreed to join him on his quest to the quantum abyss."

"So, Lotor saved our people?" Coran asked.

"Man, Lotor is even nicer than we thought." Hunk voiced.

"I don't think this story had a happy ending." I said crossing my arms.

"Over time, the Alteans and Drakie came to worship Lotor as their savior." Romelle said grimly, "Generations ago, in an effort to increase our odds of survival, Lotor announced that he was creating another colony far from our own. But in order to do so, he needed to assess which Alteans and Drakie were viable candidates to survive the journey. One by one, every being in the colony was given a series of tests which most of the Drakie exceeded and qualified for the new voyage. Those Alteans who were deemed fit for the journey were loaded onto a cargo ship alongside them and taken to the second colony. It was considered the highest honor. Any communication between the colonies was strictly prohibited for fear that it would compromise the other's location. This was the world I was born into, one of unquestioning devotion to a supposed messiah. My brother Bandor was always faithful, but I had questions."

"What did Marel have to say about all of this?" I asked.

"He wasn't happy about splitting up his people, but Lotor insisted that it was for the best." Romelle answered, "Marel placed a new leader among those who were leaving. One who would take care of the younger Drakie. Many of the Drakie who were paired with a Drako left with Lotor, only a few remained behind. As time passed, my mother and father were chosen, leaving my brother and I behind, but he too was taken from me. When Bandor left, I felt completely alone. I tried to use the communicator he had given me, but it never worked. Until one day he contacted them claiming I had been right to doubt Lotor's plans. He told me he was in a forest outside of town and I immediately rushed to his aid. Bandor's voice sounded weak and broken, I need to save my brother from whatever atrocity he had fallen into to. I sneaked out and ran none stop until I reached a crashed ship, there, I found my brother. Clinging to life. His skin looked desiccated and clung to his bones; he told me the other colony had all been a lie before he passed away. I did not have time to mourn him when I had to seek shelter from an incoming search party, Lotor among them. He wanted to hide the evidence and keep the towns people in the dark. I came back into town with the hurtful realization of my brother's demise. I knew the truth, or at least part of it, but I also knew that no one would believe me without proof. When Keith and Krolia arrived, they were my last chance at finding it. I told them what had happened to my brother, and as it turned out, so many Alteans and Drakie that had been taken before him. As they explained their mission to me, we knew there must have been a connection between the missing people and the pure strain of quintessence. We tried to find the leader of the Drakie, to aid us in our mission, but when we reached his living quarters, Marel was missing. The whole house looked like it been thrown upside down with various belongings littering the floor. We had no other option than to continue on our own using an ancient transportation pod. We left the town to head in the direction of the colony, but what we found was horrifying. Drakie and Alteans were stored in pods, tubes connecting to their bodies, their appearance similar to my brother's. Lotor had been harvesting them for their quintessence." Romelle looked down with sadness, "I searched for familiar faces and in one of the pods I found… Marel. The leader of the Drakie was taken by force when he found out of Lotor's plans and taken to silence him, but instead of terminating him… they took his life force."

A tear slid out of my eye at the mention of Marel's demise, he did not deserve to die such a tragic death or any of the other Alteans and Drakie. I tightened my fists and took deep breaths as the same feeling I had experienced on Zarkon's throne room resurfaces. It was like a huge weight was suddenly pressed against my chest; anger boiled inside of me. Storm lashed his tail side to side controlling his anger, afraid he would hurt someone in the room.

"That's horrifying." Coran breathed.

"All this time…" Pidge trailed off.

"I can't believe he fooled us." Lance stated sadly.

"Lotor killed Marel…" I seethed through my teeth.

"He's a monster." Keith voiced.

The main computer began to beep and notified that the comet ship was approaching the castle.

"They're back." Coran informed.

"What are we waiting for?" Romelle asked, "Open fire!"

"No! Princess Allura is with him." Lance shot back.

"We're going to let him back onboard?" Hunk asked hurriedly.

"We have to." I stated, "As long as Allura is with him, we cannot open fire. I will not risk losing her."

"Taylin and Lance are right." Shiro said, "We can't do anything until the princess is safe. Once Allura is secure, we will take Lotor down."

Storm roared agreeing with Shiro and went to take a stance on Allura's control platform waiting for his prey. Everyone else followed his lead standing before him. I hovered a hand above my Bayard's storage compartment on my armor ready to summon my bow and launch an arrow in-between that traitor's eyes. I sensed Allura's presence come closer down the hallway, "They are near." I voiced. There footsteps echoed in my ears and the anticipation of seeing Lotor come through the door was eating at me.

The doors finally opened with a low hiss and Allura and Lotor came in with smiles on their faces. Their expression grew solemn when nobody greeted them.

"What's going on?" Allura asked.

Keith and Krolia stepped out from the corners of the room and aimed their weapons at Lotor. I summoned my bow into my hand and pulled at the string materializing an energy arrow, aiming it at Lotor's head.

Lance pulled out his riffle and proceed to do the same, "Allura, step away from Lotor."

Allura placed her arms to her sides covering Lotor from our line of fire with an angry expression, "I will do no such thing. Tell me what's happening here."

"Lotor is monster and has been harvesting Altean and Drakie quintessence for generations!" Romelle said gaining their attention; Lotor's eyes widen at her accusation. There was no doubt of his culpability, it was written all over his face.

"An Altean!" Allura gasped; she turned towards Lotor who looked grim.

"You killed my brother and thousands of others." Romelle continued.

"Lotor has been lying to us the whole time." Pidge stated.

"He is a murder, just like his father!" I said with rage, "He killed Marel and so many more Drakie. Lotor, you are a traitor, a low life who deserves no pity."

"You know nothing about what you speak." Lotor retaliated.

Allura's eyes reflected betrayal, "What are they talking about?"

"Allura, listen to me." He said softly, "I've dedicated my life to preserving Altean and Drakie culture. Now that we have unlocked the quintessence field, all of the people, who would have been hunted down long ago had it not been for my intervention, can live in peace. Were some lives lost in the process? Yes-"

"You call murdering the innocent peace!" I barked, "You have a twisted way of looking at things, I see now that DNA is thicker than water. You're as vile as you parents."

"Those people were martyrs to a noble cause." Lotor stated, "I sacrificed a few to preserve the future for millions. Allura, do not let this ruin everything we've worked for. Think of what we experienced in the quintessence field." He took her hand trying to persuade her, but Allura bared her teeth in anger and threw him over her shoulder. Lotor landed harshly on the ground, knocked out. Immediately, the alarms of the castle went off and the main screen showed a live feed of Lotor's ships taking off in the main hangar.

"The hangar's been breached!" Coran exclaimed; he ran to his control panel.

"It's Lotor's troops." Hunk said, "They're stealing the ships!"

Shiro suddenly grunted in pain and screamed holding his head, I hurried to his side, "No, no, not right now. Dammit!" The pain was so strong that it kneeled him over until he fell down clenching his head.

"What's happening to him?" Coran asked concerned.

"I don't know!" I said with urgency, "The white lion must be attacking his mind again." I touched his head and concentrated in connect to his mind, but when I did, a strong dark force pushed me out making me stumble back, Lance caught me before I hit the ground. It was like something shocked my mind, preventing me from helping Shiro.

Lance placed me back on my feet, "Allura and I will secure Lotor. Hunk, Tay, help Shiro. Everyone else, get down to the hangar and stop those guys."

I wasted no time and came to his aid again holding his shoulders, watching him break underneath my fingers.

"Come on, Shiro. Please fight it." I pleaded.

Shiro lifted his head and snarled at us pushing me back against Hunk; we flew back taking Coran with us.

"Shiro, what are you-" Lance did not get to finish his question when he too was punched by Shiro.

Storm came to my side and helped me to my feet with the tip of his snout and quickly turned around to face the raging Black Paladin. Shiro had summoned his Bayard and came after Allura throwing it at her, but she managed to move out of the way; it hit the control room doors, piercing them.

"Shiro! That's enough!" I yelled and came to block his fist. I pushed back his attack, but then I hesitate when I was about to return the blow which caused me to go flying back onto the nearest wall hitting my head hard. I could not hit him. I did not have the courage to confront him. Never in all our time together had I seen him like this, it was not like him and it hurt tremendously. I opened my eyes seeing blurry and shook my head trying to clear my vision. I saw Shiro's boots coming toward me, but Storm came to intercept him roaring loudly making him retreat. He then proceeded to pick up Lotor's unconscious body and leave the room without saying a word.

 _"What in the quiznaking hell just happened?!"_ Storm exclaimed, _"It doesn't make any sense for him to attack you. He hurt you, I could have easily snapped his neck-"_

 _"Don't say that, whatever happened we'll figure it out and it's not going to be by terminating him. Do you understand?!"_

Storm huffed, _"Fine."_

I stood up with the help of his tail rubbing my head; Allura who had landed a few feet away, got up and ran to the control panel to turn on the castle's speakers, "Shiro's gone mad! He's escaping with Lotor! Stop him before he leaves the ship!"

I walked up to her and asked after a few ticks, "Did anyone manage to stop him?"

"I'm sorry Taylin, he's… gone." Pidge said grimly.

I shut my eyes tightly trying to find some type of composure holding the tears at bay. I had already lost him once, and to lose him again was a stab to the heart.

"Lance, Hunk, Taylin, can you still pilot your lions?" Keith asked.

"Yeah, I'll manage." Hunk answered.

"We've got this." Lance said.

"Yes." I answered plainly.

"Then let's go!" Keith ordered, "If we're gonna fight Lotor's ships, we'll need Voltron."

"Shiro's gone." Pidge reminded him, "Who's gonna pilot the Black Lion?"

"I will." Keith said with determination over the comm.

I went to my platform for it to lower me down to my lion to catch up to Keith, "Storm, stay here and guard the castle. If we need back up, I will call on upon you."

Storm nodded his head and watched me disappear. I grabbed on to my zipline which lowered me down to my speeder and finally boarded my lion who turned on instantly at my touch. I moved her to the launching tunnel and we were off at full speed. The other lions soon follow along and we caught up to Lotor's ships in no time. I moved my right handle forward sending a laser beam from White's jaws, gracing one of the ships. We saw the Altean pod Shiro had taken, and Keith and I went to intercept it.

Keith opened a frequency to him, "Shiro its Keith." But he got no answer.

"Shiro, please listen to me." I said softly, "We are going to get through this. Whatever has been attacking your mind, we will find a way to free you from it, but please… come back to me. Let me help-" Shiro shut off communications cutting me off; I took a deep breath trying to calm my rapidly beating heart.

"I can't shake them!" Hunk suddenly said over the comm, "Help!"

"Keith! Taylin!" Pidge exclaimed, "We need back up!"

The desperate call of my fellow Paladins placed me in a hard situation. I was stuck between going after Shiro or helping them and as much as it hurt me to watch the pod move further away, I had to help them. I turned the White Lion around following behind Keith who also seemed to be stuck in the same dilemma. I saw one of the ships shoot a beam toward the Red Lion and I fed the water element to my lion sending a water tunnel to intercept it, protecting Lance from the impact. I heard Lance huff in relief.

"Guys, we're no match for them in our lions." Keith grunted, "Form Voltron!"

We got in formation and began to transform until our lions connected to each other forming Voltron.

We turned around to face our attackers, it was now three ships against the most powerful warrior in the universe. I sat at the edge of my seat wanting to be done with this fight and go chasing after the man who stole my heart.

* * *

Hey everyone, this is to make up for last week.

Enjoy!


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

 **Break Me**

Everything had become overwhelming, from discovering about my ancestors in the land of Oriande, to working with Lotor and finding out of his betrayal. I had the enemy right in front of my face without ever knowing he had committed genocide with my people. So many innocent lives lost for the sake of unlimited power. What had this universe come to? Young children lost to the clutches of evil; lives extinguished like dying stars. The future of our races was in the hands of monsters. My own future was threatened by an evil hand, turning my lover against me. How had I been so foolish? So naive to believe that everything would turn up alright. I let my guard down, and now, we faced Lotor's cruel generals; in ships manufactured by the comet's ore.

The three ships opened fire as soon as they saw Voltron before them. I moved us up and out of the way and they came after us; lasers flying so close to our hull. I saw Shiro's pod fly by and changed course to track him. Even at the speed we were going, the smaller ships managed to keep up with us. They flew in front, uniting their laser cannons and fired. Pidge formed the shield just as the laser beam made impact. The force pushed us back to a nearby asteroid, denting its surface.

"I'm headed your way." Coran informed.

"Coran, no!" Keith ordered, "The Castle of Lions barely survived the first time we fought one of those ships. You'll only-" Keith grunted as the force of the beam intensified, digging us further into the ground.

"Keith is right, Coran." Allura said, "The ship's defenses will never hold!"

"Guys, we can't take this much longer!" Pidge exclaimed.

"Do you guys have any ideas?" Lance asked.

"If only we can get away from their line of fire." I grunted, "We're blocked on two fronts."

"Maybe we can fix that." Keith stated, "Coran, fire just below our position."

"What?" Coran asked bewildered.

"Destroy the rock we're pinned against." Keith ordered.

"But that's too dangerous!" Coran shot back, "We run the risk of hitting you."

"Just do it Coran!" I yelled, "If we don't get away from the laser, we won't last much longer!"

Coran said nothing more and fired the castle's main cannon destroying the asteroid's bottom surface. We fell down the hole and moved away from the beam.

"Lance! Pidge! I need you to get us some cover." Keith ordered.

"On it!" They said in unison and began to fire at the floating rocks as I moved us forward losing us in the chaos. Dozens of yellow explosions trailed behind us, but my monitors still reported the ships still on our tail.

"They just won't give up." I growled.

"Who's got eyes on Shiro?" Keith asked.

"I don't see him anywhere." I responded with worry.

We exited the floating rock formations, when suddenly the ships fired some type of restraining beams keeping us in place. They began to pull us back crashing us on a giant floating boulder.

"What just happened?" Pidge asked.

I gasped when a bright magenta light appeared in the darkness to reveal a wormhole, "It can't be…"

"A wormhole?" Lance voiced shocked.

"They're trying to escape." Keith said.

"Haggar." Allura said with distaste, "It has to be Haggar. She must have gained the ability. But how?"

"Something tells me, we know the answer." I said, remembering the time I had fought the white lion. Somehow, she had found the lost land of Oriande and figured out a way to take control of Shiro's mind. Everything became clear in an instant; she knew of our plans all along. There was no one else with those abilities. I slammed my foot in anger.

"We can't worry about that." Keith said trying to get me to calm down, "We have to make sure we get Shiro back."

"But Shiro's not Shiro anymore." Hunk reminded.

"I know, but something is wrong with him." Keith responded, "The Galra or Lotor have to be behind it."

"It's the witch, I know it's her." I said with hatred.

"You all know he would never give up on us." Keith continued, "We can't give up on him."

"Your right, we can't." I voiced with determination, beginning to move Voltron, with the help of the others, back to a standing position, "I'm never giving up on him. I am going to get him back, not matter what."

We took off after them, in the direction of the vibrant magenta wormhole, moving us as fast as we could go, but a warning popped up on my screen, "Guys, one of our thrusters has been damaged on impact. Can you compensate?"

"Those beams torched our power core." Pidge answered me, "I've never seen anything like it."

"We've got maybe thirty seconds of over-clocked burnt time." Hunk informed.

"Hit it!" Keith ordered.

Allura and Hunk pushed their thrusters to max capacity sending us flying at sonic speed. I tightened my hold on my lion's handles as my heart began to beat rapidly.

"We're halfway through our burn." Hunk said, "twenty-five percent…"

Shiro's pod reached the wormhole and disappeared inside of it; even with the sonic boom, we were not fast enough. We needed to reach it before it closed.

"Fifteen-percent…"

The other ships made it as well vanishing in bright flashes of light.

"Eight percent."

"We're still too far away!" I exclaimed, my breaths coming up in loud gusts, "We're not going to make it!"

"We're too heavy!" Pidge exclaimed.

My lion could probably make it in time before the wormhole closed, but in Voltron, she was forced to carry all the weight of the other lions on her wings.

"Disband." Keith ordered, thinking the same thing.

"What?" The others protested.

"The energy from disconnecting might create enough thrust to propel me through the wormhole." Keith said.

"You'll be the only one on the other side." Allura stated.

"No, he won't." I added, "I'm coming with, losing the other lion's connections will allow me to fly faster. I need to do this Allura!"

"Do it!" Keith yelled.

"All right." Allura voiced and they disbanded from our lions, shooting away in different directions.

The Black Lion flew in front of me, with one of its wings sparking, but the force of disbanding actually helped it to fly faster. I pulled on my handles as far as they could go and connected to my lion. She immediately responded understanding my urgency and extended her wings out giving off a white intense radiance. I reached Keith and took ahold of the Black Lion's back thrusting us faster; the stars moved by in a blur. We managed to make it inside just as the wormhole closed. I let go of him and exited the wormhole only to be met with a so dozen of Galra cruisers standing by. As soon as they detected us, they began to open fire; a few laser beams managing to grace our lions.

I groaned, "Dam the Galra."

"All right, we gotta play this smart." Keith said, "Take evasive maneuvers."

"You don't have to tell me twice." I stated and began to dodge the incoming fire by backflipping out of the way of one of the cruisers.

"I have eyes on Shiro." Keith informed.

"I'm right behind you." I changed course to follow him through the fleet, an image of the white Altean pod appeared on my screen; the other three comet ships escorted it to the main Galra vessel. One of them broke formation and flew back to engage. My lion alerted me of the incoming fighter with a beeping noise and placed the radar to my left.

"Keith, we got incoming." I warned.

He growled and pressed forward making the ship follow him, giving me the opportunity of a clear shot. I placed the ship in my aim and fired a white laser from Nimawe's jaws momentarily making it spin out of control, but it quickly recovered and circled around me. It began to fire and where ever I moved, it mimicked me.

"I can shake it!" I yelled receiving impact on my lion's back.

"I got you!" Keith exclaimed and backflipped in front of me to land on the ship and fired directly into the cockpit this time destabilizing it for good.

"Thanks." I breathed in relief.

"No, problem. Now we have to head to Shiro's location, stay close."

I nodded my head and flew beside him turning back to the main ship. I summoned my jaw blade and cut a hole into the hangar while Keith just butted the Black Lion's head inside. There stood Shiro along with Lotor and his three generals. The alarms began to beep wildly when the comet ship returned to take us down. I withdrew from the hangar and nose-dived, avoiding the rain of lasers.

"We have to do something about this darn ship." Keith growled, "Think. How are we going to get in there?"

Shiro's pod appeared again in my radar, "We won't have to get in anymore. There he goes!"

Keith opened a frequency to him as we followed him away from the fleet, "Shiro, come in. I know you're there!"

"Come on Shiro." I pleaded, "Please come back with us, I don't understand thoroughly what is going on, but one thing I do know is that we can fix it. Let us help you." The sound that someone had locked on to us beeped in my cabin, "Alright, that's it!"

I fed the fire element to Nimawe who took it without hesitation and turned around to face our attacker. I opened my lion's jaws as a fire orb began to grow rapidly and I fired; opening the pool of my power to my lion, giving it unlimited energy. I kept the fire current on it, watching as the ship's hull began to glow with the heat. The ship still had its aim locked on me, but surprisingly it did not return fire and it suddenly flew back to the main fleet without putting up a fight. I flipped us around to trail after Keith whose lion wasn't looking too good, one of its wings kept sparking.

"Your statues Keith?" I asked.

"I took some heavy damage during our fight with the three comet ships. I won't be able to go any faster than this, I will understand if you decide to go after Shiro on your own. I will try to catch up as soon as I can."

To catch up to Shiro was my number one priority, but it did not seem right to leave Keith behind; I sighed, "I'll fly close to you. We'll get Shiro back together."

"You don't have to do that, Taylin." Keith said softly.

"Believe it or not… I really don't want to face this on my own. You're the only support I have out here, it's really nice to have you back, Keith. I missed you. The team wasn't the same without you."

"I missed you too." Keith said plainly, he hesitated before continuing, "We're going to get him back, I promise."

I closed my eyes for a brief moment somehow finding the courage to believe in his words and a small smile appeared on my face. Nothing more was said between us and we flew close to each other until we spotted Shiro's pod resting on an asteroid, orbiting high above a distant planet. The scanners showed he had left the ship and walked into a cave.

"What would Shiro be doing here?" I asked puzzled.

"I have no idea, but we're about to find out."

We landed our lions close to the pod and disembarked through our lion's jaws to track the foot sprint on the dirt. Our lions sat on their hind legs and powered off already awaiting our return. Keith and I moved swiftly through the terrain and reached the mouth of the cave in a few doboshes. It looked dark and unwelcoming inside, but we had no other choice than to venture inside. I took the first step inside taking in the scenery around us. Jagged stone formations grew on the ceiling like teeth ready to chomp down on us. A pool of water reflected them back by the edge of the cave without any ripples. We walked on in silence until we came upon an elevator with purple glowing engravings; no doubt Galran. Something deep inside of me told me to turn back and run away from this place but my need to find Shiro was immense. An internal battle broke out as I froze in place breathing heavily through my mouth. For the first time in a while, I felt… fear. It slowly creeped from my stomach, like tendrils of a vine, all the way to my heart. Keith began to move forward, but not hearing my footsteps beside him, stopped to turn around and face me. Keith was not very big at providing words of comfort, so he took my wrist in his hand gently to guide me to the waiting elevator. I let him take me, otherwise my legs would have never moved on their own accord.

The elevator took us up rapidly, making a low humming sound; flashes of light passed by illuminating the darkness briefly. It finally stopped, opening its doors with a low hissing sound to reveal a great walkway. It was like anything I had ever seen. The station had no visible ceiling letting the stars peek inside. The whole place was lightened by a soft magenta light. As we walked on, the place grew darker with pods on each side of the aisle. They showed nothing of what was inside, only reflecting darkness.

We reached the end of the path and out of curiosity, I stepped forward to place a hand on the cryo chamber before me, but what I saw shocked me to the core. I felt like my whole world began to crumble and my blood ran cold in my veins. In the pod, was Shiro. He appeared to be asleep with his hands clenched into fists beside him, but as I looked over him, I realized he could not possibly be my Shiro. He did not have the white tuff of hair that I loved to play around with when he rested his head on my lap. The white faded scar on his nose was missing, and he had both his arms made out of flesh and bone.

"This…. what is? … this…" I stuttered.

Keith gasped and turned to his left and the pods on the other side began to turn on revealing more copies of Shiro. Every pod turned on displaying the same thing.

"Hello." Someone said behind us, we quickly turned around.

Shiro stood there, in his Paladin armor, with a grim expression and slightly glowing eyes. I was utterly confused, why were they so many copies of him? Who had created them? And everything we lived through, was it real?

"Shiro, it's gonna be okay." Keith said lowly when I could not find my voice.

"Yes, I know." He answered walking forward with a menacing look in his eye.

"We just have to get back to the Castle." Keith stated.

"We are not going anywhere!" Shiro yelled and began to run in our direction, his prosthetic hand glowed beside him.

Keith placed up his shield just in time, but the force sent us both flying back into the nearest pod. I leaned against it for support but moved out of the way in a flash when Shiro came at me to strike me down. I jumped to my left rolling down to the ground coming up behind him.

"Shiro, this isn't like you!" I exclaimed terrified.

He turned around bearing his teeth, "I have always been like this, you just refused to see it."

I materialized a shield when he threw a punch at me managing to hold me in place, but he kept on punching it creating cracks on the surface, "Typical, Taylin. Always hiding behind her powers."

"I hide from no one." I spit out angrily and sent my shield flying, pushing him back.

Keith materialized his marmoran sword and intercept him when he came after me again. Their weapons clashed loudly blocking each other's attacks until Shiro pushed him toward the edge and powered punched him off the platform.

"Keith!" I went to jump off after him, but I felt how someone grabbed my ankle and pulled me back, crashing me harshly onto the floor. I turned around to defend myself, but Shiro was already on top of me placing his right hand around my throat.

"Shiro… please…" I managed to wheeze out.

"I though you wanted to be with me, Taylin." He mocked with a smirk, "You're not getting away from me that easily." He pressed on my neck with more force cutting my air flow; chocking me. I grabbed on his hand trying to get it off me, but he proved to be too strong, so I did the only thing I could do. I sent an electric current from my hands to his arm shocking him and giving me the opportunity to kick him off me. I immediately got up and jumped off the platform using my jetpack to land on the lower levels besides Keith. We looked up to see Shiro jumping off with his glowing fist ready and moved out of the way. He came crashing down lifting metal particles in the air. He came out of the dust cloud with his hands tightly clenched into fists.

I took a step forward with my hands up in the air, "Let's talk this through, there is no need to fight."

Shiro knitted his eyebrows together and summoned a glowing purple sword with his prosthetic arm and came at me yelling with rage. Keith side stepped me and blocked the attack with his sword placing me behind him. They kept clashing at each other as Shiro tried to take a swipe at me, but Keith persisted in maintaining me away from him. His eyes no longer mirrored the affection we had for each other, only madness. I appeared that all the love he felt had vanished and it dawned on me, Shiro was trying to kill me. The person who I had given my heart and soul wanted to wipe me from existence; I could not bring myself to harm him. But would I really watch my beloved and one of my close friends destroy each other? … No. I need to intervene or one of them was going to end up losing their life.

I watched how Shiro uppercut Keith and his helmet flew off, slashing at him with his sword. Keith managed to evade him and jump to the next platform, with me forgotten for the moment. I manifested my wings and jump after them as Shiro had his sword pointed at his neck pinned against a metal structure. I landed loudly and pulled him out of the way bending the metal in the process to place a barrier between Shiro and us.

"Shiro listen to me, I know you are still in there somewhere." I said urgently, "I know that the man I fell in love with still resides in you. Fight it! Come back to me and continue with the plans we had sought out to pursue together. I said I would never leave your side and I am here now to help you fight the darkness that has befallen over you." My eyes began to water, and a tear silently slid out running over my cheek, "I love you, always have, always will."

Shiro looked at me expressionless and began to chuckle evilly sending shivers down my arms, "You are so pathetic, how could I love someone like you? Someone who is so weak. You should have died alongside your people and become a forgotten history."

"You cannot possibly mean that." I shot back fighting against the tears that threaten to spill out.

"I mean each and every word. I don't love you." He said with venom, "I don't want you anymore."

"But I do!" I stated bearing my teeth, "I cannot simply un-love you. Call me pathetic but my feelings for you are true I would have never agreed to marry you if it was a lie!"

He moved his head side to side with a small smirk, "Oh Taylin, but it was a lie. I led you on and you fell for it and now, I'm here to break you."

Every word that came out of his mouth was a painful stab to the heart, and I refused to believe they were his. It felt like an enormous weight was placed over my chest making it hard to breath, almost like he was chocking me all over again.

Keith placed a hand on my shoulder, "Shiro, I know you don't mean that and like Taylin, I know you're in there. You made a promise once. You told me you'd never give up on me."

"And I should have abandoned you just like your parents did." Shiro spit back, "They saw that you were broken. Worthless. I should have seen it too."

"We're not leaving here without you." Keith said trying to ignore his words, but I knew deep down he felt the same way as me.

Shiro closed his eyes and sighed before looking up, "Actually, neither of us are leaving."

The lights of the station began to glow a red color bathing the scenery in crimson; it appeared that a self-destruction sequence had been initiated. Shiro suddenly screamed in pain as his arm began to glow in the same color and fell to the ground holding it like it had ignited in flames.

"Shiro!" I exclaimed worried for him.

His prosthetic hand began to overload sending a great beam down below destabilizing the station and cutting it in half. Keith and I jumped out of the way before it hit us, missing us by a few inches. We turned our gaze to Shiro who stood doubled over panting with his arms sparking with energy. He lifted his eyes and growled at us lifting his hand up to aim, ready for another shot.

"Run!" I yelled and pushed against Keith to the nearest ledge landing harshly on the platform below ignited with red pods holding the cloned Shiros. I looked up to see the real Shiro gazing down at us with a smirk and fired again. I manifested a shield taking all the impact of his laser beam. I tried to hold it back, but his force was making me lose my footing.

"Taylin! Move!" Keith ordered seeing my shield start to shatter.

I followed his advice and jumped out of the way using my wings for momentum and let the beam hit the wall. We ran as fast as our legs could carry us away from the destruction Shiro was causing, but it seemed, where ever we went, it was impossible to escape his wrath. The piece of the station we were on plummeted down in a vertical position sending us sliding down to the abyss. I grabbed ahold of Keith and jumped off when two pods fell from the side coming to crash on our heads. I extended my wings and carried us down to a round metal plate underneath the station but in midair, a piece of the bridge fell on my wing causing me to crash on the side, hitting my wing on the metallic surface, breaking the humeros bone. I screamed in pain seeing black dots dancing before my eyes. My breath came out in short gasp and my vision blurred. I tried to push my pain aside as I noticed Keith hanging on to the ledge. I reached out my hand for him, but the pain only shot throughout my body, curling me in. Keith managed to get himself on top and laid down on the floor, breathless, looking at me with worry.

"Hang on, Taylin." He said tiredly, "I'm going to get us out of here… somehow."

Keith crawled over to my feet to grab his knife grunting loudly along the way, but something landed by us shaking the ground; it was Shiro who came to finish us off. He walked towards me scrutinizing my form. He lifted up a foot and brought it down on my damaged wing contorting me in agonizing pain. My screams echoed into the vastness surrounding us, resonating off the walls of the station. Shiro manifested his sword again watching me squirm under his boot. I closed my eyes withholding my cry of pain through clenched teeth waiting for his sword to impel me.

Memories of our time together flashed through my mind, from the first time I had set eyes on him after my ten-thousand-year sleep, to him getting on one knee to ask one of the most important questions of my life. Our journey together had not been a long one, but I was glad I got to experience a love so strong that even now I managed to forgive him. Love wasn't a weakness, it was a living thing inside of our being that kept our hearts beating. All of the sacrifices I had made throughout my life had been in the name of love. I regretted failing my people, for not being with them when they most needed me, but worst of all, I had failed my family. The family I was born into and the family that adopted me as we came together to fight for the universe. Shiro was not the one killing me, because I refused to believe he was the one doing this, rather, it was a heartless monster. A shell of what my mate had been.

A stream of tears spilled out staining my face with their salty streaks, but my end never came, a brash clashing noise sounded above me and the pressure on my wing disappeared. I opened my eyes slightly to see Keith holding off Shiro's sword with his knife.

Shiro pressed against him pushing Keith's back to the ground.

"Shiro, please." Keith grunted, "You're my brother… I love you."

"Just let go Keith." Shiro seethed, "You don't have to fight anymore. By now, the team's already gone. I saw to it myself."

Keith screamed summoning his Bayard and cutting Shiro's prosthetic arm off. Shiro grunted and fell down to his knees beside me in pain and a flash of recognition passed through his eyes, "Taylin-"

He was cut off when an explosion happened above us sending a huge chuck of the station barreling down and cutting the support lines of the platform we stood on. We began to slide to the side as we lost altitude and I grabbed on a small opening on the floor holding myself in place with much effort. Keith stabbed his knife on the side holding on to Shiro's unconscious body. I took a deep breath numbing momentarily my pain and reached to place a hand over Keith's providing more support for him.

"Hold on Keith don't let go!"

"I'm trying, but… it's too much! I'm going to pass Shiro to you." He lifted Shiro up with his left arm managing to bring him up about half way when his knife suddenly slid further down, cutting into the metal.

"Keith!" I yelled when I lost his hand from my grasp.

A second explosion went off brining the whole station down causing Keith to lose his grip, falling to a certain death into the white atmosphere below. I watched in horror as they plummeted down, Keith's purple eyes shining up at me with sadness. He mouthed something to me incomprehensible and closed his eyes.

I moved my head to place it on the platform's floor that held on just barely, "Please ancients hear my cry, help me!" With that said, I let go, plummeting into the nothingness below. Praying I would be enough to save them.

* * *

Hey Everyone!

Hope you all are having a nice week and thanks for the comments.

I decided to post this today since I'm going to be out for the next couple of days and I did not want to postpone the chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it, it made me all emotional to write it.

Also this chapter has a song, its Taylin's and Shiro's love song, listen to it, its amazing.

watch?v=wqbisJH4pHs


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46**

 **Not Alone**

This was the moment in my life were a felt totally lost, I place where my cries of help echoed in my ears, but no one answered them. Everything I once believed in, absconded me and left me to my own devices. There was no one to tell me how to carry on; no one to save me. I felt like a hatchling falling from its mother's nest into the cruel world down below. This place held no love, fear, hate, or sadness, just coldness emanating from a hollow depth inside of me. I yearned for the warmth that ran through my veins with each pump of my heart. I was tired and weak.

 _"I did not sacrifice everything for you to give up like this."_ A familiar voice said.

I opened my eyes and I was no longer falling from the station trying to reach Keith and Shiro, to save them from the deathly fall. I was in a place between worlds, a place which I had been before. The colorful bright orb glimmered in the middle of the crystal sea, but this time the stars shined above it, twinkling ever so often. The sea was not peaceful, small waves passed blurring its reflection. I stood up cupping a hand to catch some water and let it fall back in small droplets. Some padding sounds came from my right and I slowly rouse my gaze to see someone approaching me. I gasped at the familiarity. Their dark brown hair neatly combed to the side with small streaks of silver signaling their years of wisdom. Their eyes shined a honey color as they looked me over.

 _"How much you have grown, you are no longer my little girl, but a full-grown woman and a strong warrior."_

 _"Father…"_ I whispered trying to find the right words to say to him, but it had been so long; I was awestruck. Seeing my father before me once again seemed like an impossible dream. I had mentally convinced myself, since I awoke, that I would never be able to see him again but all that was undone in a tick. My feet began to move on their own causing small splashes until I was running into his waiting arms. I felt his arms wrap around me, caging me in his affection. Tears fell from my eyes and I started to laugh with content. It was like a burst of light inside of me among all the darkness. I was once again that little girl waiting for her father to come home and tell her about his day; with a mother smiling behind her at the reunion of the two most loved in her life.

He pulled away to cup my face in his hands and looked me over with a small smile, _"Taylin, my beautiful flower."_

 _"I don't know what is happening, but I never want this to end."_ I muttered grasping his forearms tightly, _"How is this possible?"_

 _"I heard your desperate call for help and could not let you feel like you were all alone. I have always been watching over you and I'm sorry I have failed to be at your side when you needed me the most."_ He sighed and gazed down, _"I often thought if I had made the right choice putting you away in that pod, but now seeing you in front of me, I would have done it all over again."_

 _"You could have told me your plans."_ I stated sliding my hands down until they reached his own, _"We could have figured out a way to stop Zarkon and the destruction of our planet-"_

 _"What done is done, Taylin."_ Father interrupted me, _"There is no point in dwelling in the past. We have to look into the future and if there was one thing, I realized in that very moment… it was that you were my future. Your mother understood that, hence, why she did not think twice in coming to aid you when you were captured by the Galra."_

 _"I much rather have both of you beside me, than for you to be a fragment in my memory."_ I said with sadness and took a step back letting my hands fall, _"I still had so much to learn from you… I feel lost. I don't know what to do father, everything around me is crumbling to pieces and when I finally reach happiness, it's taken away from right under my nose. I placed my trust in people who only turned their back on me. We were so close to achieving peace but…"_

My father placed a finger under my chin to see into my eyes, _"But you have also met people who you learned to care about as family, that alone is a valuable jewel. You will never be lost as long as you have them, because there is no stronger bond than love. Isn't that what drove you to this secluded place?"_

 _"Shiro…"_

 _"Yes, him."_ He stated rising his eyebrows, _"You came all this way to search for him, never giving up hope you would get him back. There is no reason to give up, only to keep fighting…. I had nothing more to teach you my daughter, all you needed to know about yourself, the universe, and the elements is all inside of you. Taylin, you are stronger that you give yourself credit. Remember you command the elements-"_

 _"They don't command you."_ I finished for him.

He nodded his head, _"That's right. You passed the test of kings when you confronted the guardian of the elements and proved who you were. Someone who places others before her and is willing to sacrifice it all for the good of her people."_

I looked down at my feet watching the water grace my boots, _"I'm battered and broken, father. When I get out of here, I won't have the strength to save my mate and friend. This place is too far away from them. It's over, I've failed."_

Father reached out for my left hand and curled my fingers inward forming a fist, _"You might be battered, but never broken. Your strength might fail you, but you have an immense power at your fingertips. Use it."_ My palm began to feel hot to the point of almost burning. I opened my hand and noticed how a pink flower began to materialize in a soft glow. Its petals uncurled from its center one my one until it was the size of my whole hand. The antlers formed slowly in the shape of long crystals and they released some type of glowing particles. I watched amazed, with my lips parted, as the sound of my heart pattered in my ears. The strength, which I thought had left me, began to return like a rushing stream, filling me with pure energy. I felt how my wing's bone mended itself and the pain ceased in an instant as if it had never happened.

 _"Thank you, Father."_ I beamed with a wide smile.

 _"No need to thank me, it was all you."_ He returned the expression, _"Now close your eyes and concentrate. From here, you can reach out to them… from here, you can call upon your lion."_ I closed my eyes and let his words guide me, thinking of how much I wanted to see Shiro; how I wanted to save Keith. He had protected me from the entity that took over my mate, it was only right I returned the favor.

When I opened my eyes, I could see everything, from the smallest spec of space dust to the enormous galaxies spiraling inside the universe. Stars shined in a verity of colors igniting the darkness. Creatures, which I had never seen before, flew through the vastness in all shapes and sizes. Countless solar systems spun around their suns in harmony. I witness how a star died, but from the chaos emerged a new galaxy with hues of yellows and reds starting the cycle of life all over again.

 _"Feel the elements around you."_ My father whispered; he was no longer beside me, but I could still feel his presence, _"Remember, you will never be alone. I will always be here for you… inside your heart. I will never be truly gone, because you are a piece of me."_ His voice began to fade away and as much I wanted to keep ahold of him, I knew that I had to let him go. The elements had granted me this gift and I could not be more grateful.

I concentrated in locating Shiro and Keith in the universe and picked up their energy signature. They were still falling as if time had stood still, moving the wheels slowly. I found the Black Lion and ordered it to life; sending it to catch them. Black followed my commands without question, powering on and taking flight. I fed it energy and repaired its damaged wing allowing it to fly faster. It flew underneath them and caught them inside its jaws, saving them from their deaths. I breathed a sigh of relief releasing some of my tension. I moved my gaze towards the White Lion who still sat patiently on her hind legs awaiting my return. I mended our energy together and she roared to life pushing off the asteroid and into the black sky. I felt like I was being dragged away from the elemental spiritual plane by her as everything around me blurred. Thousands of lights flashed before my eyes like I was falling into the great abyss of the universe. There was nothing to hold me back, only an invisible string tugging at me; calling to me. When my vision finally cleared, after blinking a couple of times, I sat in my lion's cockpit with her following behind the Black Lion. I pressed a button on my control panel opening a frequency to them, "Keith, can you hear me? Are you both alright?"

The response took longer than expected, but Keith's voice finally came through, "I'm here, I'm fine."

I sighed letting go of the breath I was holding, "Is… is Shiro okay?"

"He…" Keith trailed off.

"Keith, is Shiro okay?" I repeated with urgency, "Please answer me."

"There is no easy way to tell you this, Taylin." He stated with a hint of sadness, "Shiro is alive, but the Shiro we know is not him."

"You mean to tell me…" I trailed off shutting my eyes tightly.

"Yes, he is a clone. The original Shiro…. He passed away and sucked in to the Black Lion's quintessence field. I saw him."

I once again felt overwhelmed as my breaths quickened and grabbed on to my lion's handles with all my might. So, had it been a lie? Everything we lived through since we found him drifting in space, had it been real? Every touch, kiss, affection, feeling, was it real? I could no longer hold back my tears, so I let them flow.

Keith called my name hearing my scuffles, "Don't cry, we'll figure something out. There must be a way to get him back."

"You don't understand, Keith." I seethed, "He was right. Everything was a lie."

"No, it wasn't." Keith stated with determination, "And you know it. This might have not been the original Shiro, but he still held the same feelings for you. He is my brother and I'm not going to give up on him. Shiro has been through far worse, he will get through this as well. So please, pull yourself together. I need you."

Keith's words surprised me, even though we had bonded during Shiro's absence, he had never been so open with me. I reached to wipe away my tears and pulled myself together filling my heart with his self-assurance. "Your right. We must get back to the others and save Shiro. He may not be the first, but it's still him."

Keith opened a channel to contact the Castle of Lions, "Hailing the Castle of Lions. This is Keith."

"Keith! You're okay!" Lance's voice came through.

"Where is Taylin?" Allura asked.

I cleared my throat, "I'm right here Allura."

"Thank the ancients." She breathed, "Where've you been? Did you find Shiro?"

"We got him, but it's not the Shiro we knew." I responded grimly, "The Shiro that kidnapped Lotor was… a clone."

"Well, then where's the real one?" Lance asked bewildered.

"It's complicated." Keith answered, "We'll explain everything later, but right now, you need to focus on Lotor. I've picked up the Sincline ships on my scanners. Looks like Lotor's headed back to your position. Right where you are."

"Why would he be so stupid and return?" I asked with anger.

"He needs to get back into the quintessence field." Allura gasped.

"We're on our way to you now." Keith stated, "But without a wormhole, it's gonna take us a while. You'll have to hold off Lotor without us."

"We'll do what we can." Lance responded and shut off the comm.

We were going as fast as the lions could go, but the castle was still too far away; Lotor would get to them first.

"Come on girl, I know you can go a little faster." I whispered to Nimawe. She growled and boosted us forward with the Black Lion following her lead. They seemed to be working together, not wanting to leave each other behind. We moved quickly, passing by thousands of stars in a blur but scanners indicated that we were still many galaxies away. Lotor must have already arrived and the other Paladins were making their stand, denying him passage to the quintessence field.

Keith growled suddenly, "We need to go faster."

"That's as fast as the lions can go." I shot back.

Keith sighed in frustration, "How you get back in your lion anyways?"

I thought of everything I had seen in the astral plane, seeing my father once again and the journey to Oriande. Unlocking the secrets of the elements and feeling their energy run though me like an anchor. My father's words echoed in my mind… there was nothing I could not do if I set my mind to it. I was limited by boundaries I had set up myself. The elements excited everywhere. In each living creature of the universe no matter how small, they belonged to the symbiotic relationship we held. The elements lived in me, I could be anything they allowed me to be from a burning flame to a frozen crystal.

Keith called my name with worry brining me out of thought, "Are you okay, Taylin?"

"I finally understand my powers." I stated plainly, "And I believe I figured out a way to reach the others faster."

"How?"

"Give me a bit of time."

"Whatever you're going to do, please hurry, Lotor's ships have reached the castle."

I closed my eyes taking in a deep breath to calm my heart beat, everything around me began to slow down and the noise of my lion's thrusters faded away until it was only my breathing and heart. I dug deep inside of me, feeling the energy course through. My mind extended out flying away from my body into a colorful tunnel and when I blinked, I no longer saw through my eyes, but Storm's. He stood on top of the castle, in full armor, ready to help the Paladins fight a robotic being that stood before them. Its body resembled Lotor's star ships with its hull painted in gray, outlined with blue and orange. The energy coming off it rivaled that of Voltron's; there was no way four lions would be able to take it down. We needed to be there with them to confront the monster Lotor had revealed himself to be.

 _"Taylin?"_ Storm voiced confused sensing my presence.

 _"We are coming."_ I answered and withdrew from his mind until I could see the Black and White Lions flying though space. I brought all my quintessence to the center of my chest making my crystal heart hotter with power like it would burn a hole on my chest. I released my energy manifesting my Drako spirit, engulfing our surroundings in light. I looked down at the lions, which were small compared to my size, and took them into my grasp. I roared and flapped my luminescent wings shooting us through space at an incredible speed. I could hear Keith yelling as the force pushed him back in his seat, but what aggravated me was the incoming transmission of my fellow Paladins. Lotor was making short work of them; I grew impatient, wanting to go faster, hankering to tear Lotor's creation in half. My blood course threw my veins like it was bubbling with intense heat; my skin felt like it was being exposed to a thousand-degree star. I was getting to the point where my body would fade away and I would be only a being of light. This must have been what Fireheart was talking about, joining the elements until my spirt became one with them. I had no idea if I had reached my limit but to save my friends, I would not hesitate to go further.

My decision was taken, I was about to exert all the energy I had when a familiar conscience touched my own, _"Patients yields focus."_

 _"Shiro."_ I gasped.

 _"Let me share the burden."_ He said. The Black Lion roared and began to glow purple and Shiro's spirit mended with mine until I did not know where I began and where he ended. We were one soul. Our energies combined, giving me the strength to push pass my limits and shoot through the universe at light speed. I could see my goal at the end of the tunnel and when we finally reached our destination, I dropped the Black Lion and rushed to attack Lotor sending him crashing to a nearby asteroid. He recovered quickly but suddenly the Black Lion extended its wings and attacked him going through him like a phantom.

Keith turned his lions around and went to take his place near the other lions; I followed his lead cutting my power flow and recalling my spirit back into my body.

"Wow, how did you get here so fast?" Lance asked amazed.

"It was all Taylin's doing." Keith answered, "Plus we had some help. Now hurry. We don't have much time. On me! Form Voltron!"

The lions began to shift into their perspective place until Voltron was formed; we hovered in place in front of Lotor who had pushed himself off the asteroid, ready to engage.

"This ends today." I growled under my breath, "No more deceptions, no more lies. The universe doesn't need another tyrant."

"We need to get Shiro to safety." Keith stated, "Coran you have incoming."

Keith launched Shiro out of his lion inside a pod that was keeping him alive at the moment; I connected my mind to Storm's, _"Storm, lead him inside. Protect him."_

Storm growled in understatement and pushed himself off the top of the castle to intercept the pod. He caught it carefully in one of his clawed paws and climbed inside the main hangar. It was a relief to have someone less to worry about.

Lotor wasted no time and fired a beam in our direction; the bright ball of energy ignited the inky sky.

"Shield!" Keith ordered.

Pidge summoned the shield in the tick of time and blocked the attack. Lotor kept the beam on us, pushing us further back. I pressed on my handles activating Voltron's wing booster to slow us down, but the force was too immense.

"Hunk, form shoulder cannon!" Keith commanded.

"You go it!" Hunk grunted and punched in his Bayard to summon the cannon.

Lotor quickly moved out of the way and our laser made impact with a few floating debris from the dead Galra planet. Lotor's robot dodged our attacks, moving with ease and precision; we did not hit him once.

"He's too fast!" Lance complained.

"Then we have to get in close." Keith said, "Form sword!"

The Green and Red lions came together materializing the sword in a flash of light in front of my lion. I tightened my hands on my controls ready to follow after Lotor and try to get at least a few hits. The robot crossed its arms, almost like it was hugging itself, and summoned two jagged purple glowing swords ready to meet us head on. He came after us, hitting our own sword with so much strength that a wave of energy shattered an asteroid to pieces. Lance held the sword in place blocking his attack as the robot stared into Voltron's eyes. Two sentinels made out of the same material battling until one was left standing. Lotor slashed his sword a couple of times, we managed to block each strike with difficulty, but he found an opening and kicked us back. He trailed after us with rapidity.

"Move!" Keith yelled.

Like if he really needed to tell me twice; I moved us to the right missing the edge of his sword by a hair's length. Lotor's robot sword struck a floating rock causing a mini explosion. I tried to get as much distance before turning around to face him; we needed space to maneuver if we were going to fight back, he was trying to corner us. Lotor was using the same tactics as on the gaseous planet when we first came across each other. He was trying to make us feel that he had all the power and control over the situation, but he was not going to fool me twice. My anger against him fueled me with determination; I was not going down without a fight and I was surely not going to die by his hand. Lotor had already slaughtered too many of my kind, I would not give him the satisfaction of becoming a royal killer just like his father.

Lotor suddenly appeared behind us in a flash and kicked us forward, I turned us around to engage, but much like last time, he managed to best us.

"How is it that his robot is faster than us?" I groaned.

No one had time to theorize on my question when Keith ordered Pidge to bring the shield up. Grunting and yelling came over the open comms as the force threatened to break the shield in half.

"Attack!" Keith ordered.

Pidge removed the shield sending it back to Voltron's wings and we went in for the kill with the sword pointed at robot's chest. Lotor block us with his left sword sending sparks all around us. Pidge fired her lion's cannon and Lotor moved out of the way taking cover behind some debris. He turned around and block it with his swords and came at us, striking his swords swiftly, trying to find an opening to slice us. He flipped around and hit us with his tail sending us flying back. I pulled on my handles trying to stabilize us, spreading Voltron's wings; that seemed to had done the trick.

"We want touch him." Pidge stated, "He's too fast."

"We need to stop him from moving around, back him into a corner or something." Hunk added.

I looked at the floating rocks and had an idea, "We can use those floating debris to block his exit and have him battle us in one front."

"Your right." Keith agreed, "We have to eliminate his speed advantage. Limit his movements."

To our right was big enough asteroid with a crater in its middle, "There!" I exclaimed and moved us towards it with Lotor hot on our tail. "We have to lure him inside that crater."

"Well at least that won't be a problem." Lance said, "He's right behind us!"

My lions placed an image of the incoming robot on my main screen and I turned us around making him believe we would engage, but instead moved us into position in front of the opening. Lotor came back around and fire a purple beam from the robot's chest; Pidge placed the shield before us without saying a word and blocked the laser from obliterating us. It pushed us back into the opening, lifting chucks of rock into the air. Lotor tried to get a better angle by moving to our right but the crater block the beam. I smiled at our small accomplishment as he kept firing unsuccessfully. He boosted away from our hiding spot preparing his swords to his sides and turned around, launching himself back.

"Wait for him." Keith instructed, "Let him build up speed."

Lotor was about a quarter mile away with his left sword extend to impel us.

"Now!" Keith yelled.

Together we piloted Voltron out of the crater making Lotor crash where we once had been. He turned around angrily, but we returned to engage, firing both arm lasers at full capacity, keeping the beams in place. The asteroid began to crumble pushing Lotor further inside of it until the beams finally broke through to the other side. The dust settle, but Lotor was nowhere in sight.

"Where'd he go?" Hunk asked.

"He's behind us." Pidge informed.

I growled and turned us around, "Hunk, summon the shoulder cannon, obliterate him."

"On it!" Hunk stated; he followed my orders and immediately the shoulder cannon appeared humming to life.

"Fire!" Keith commanded.

Hunk fired the cannon, but just as we thought the beam was going to make a direct hit, Lotor suddenly vanished into nothingness.

"What in the smoldering pit just happened?!" I exclaimed stunned.

"Did we get him?" Lance asked bewildered.

"I don't know." Hunk voiced.

"I think we got him." Lance stated with a smile.

"It looked like he just disappeared." Pidge pointed out.

"Yeah, where is the metallic carcass?" I asked.

"We got him!" Lance cheered.

"I'm not so sure." Allura said.

A bright flash of light suddenly appeared to our left and from the vortex emanated Lotor punching us on the face. He caught us so off guard we did not have time to stabilize Voltron before we impacted an asteroid. I shook my head a couple of time trying to regain my composure.

"Is everyone okay?" Keith panted.

"How is he moving so fast?" Pidge asked.

"We've gotta get up and attack." Keith retorted.

"I'm there with you." I stated and pushed my right handle forward shooting us away from the asteroid towards Lotor. We went in for a punch, but he disappeared again.

"Okay, so that time we definitely did not get him." Lance voiced.

"Where is he going to come out from next?" I asked myself looking around, but the scanners could not pick up his energy signature until he reappeared when it was too late. Lotor exited another vortex to our right kicking us back and reappeared behind us hammering us violently. I flew us down to avoid observing the majority of the impact, but he came at us again. Lotor kept disappearing and reappearing from all angles striking us each time.

"How can he just disappear like that?" Hunk asked.

"He's… entering the quintessence field at will." Allura stated.

"What? How is that possible?" I asked readying myself for another hit, "He doesn't have ability to do that."

"Yeah, plus didn't we blow up the gate?" Hunk retorted.

"How is he entering without it?" Pidge asked.

Allura paused for a moment before answering, "Because I gave his ships the ability."

A loud thud came from behind us as Lotor appeared and struck us. I grunted and held on to my handles trying not to fall off my seat. I managed to stop us from spinning any further and face our attacker, but he had already fired another beam. Pidge brought the shield forward blocking it, but the amount of power was greater than before, the alarms were going crazy in our cockpits. A bright explosion happened when our shield finally gave out and left us to drift on our backs.

"We have to go in after him." Keith grunted, "Getting power from the quintessence field is the only way we can match his strength."

"Can we do that?" Hunk asked.

"If he can do it, Voltron can." Pidge added, "Can't we?"

"Lotor's robot is made out of the same type metal as Voltron, in theory, we should but we don't know how." I said.

"My father did it once before, but it's extremely dangerous." Allura voiced.

"Do we have a choice?" Lance said.

"We need your help, Allura." Keith told her, "We have to try."

"I don't know if I can." Allura answered hesitantly.

"I know you can, Allura." I spoke up, "You just have to concentrate and visualize your goal."

"What if I send us somewhere else?"

"You won't, I know you can do it, I believe in you."

"Okay, I may be able to guide us in, but I'll need you all to focus your energy."

I closed my eyes and tapped into the vibrant pool of my powers, concentrating on united my energy with Allura. I felt her presence and trailed it until I mended my own quintessence with hers. The others followed soon after, their life-force glowing strong with determination. In Voltron we were more united than ever before. We function as a body with one mind and a common goal. When I opened my eyes, I could see the energy flowing from Voltron and the power radiating from nearby celestial bodies. A bright light materialized before us.

"Form sword." Allura ordered.

Lance summoned the sword and I felt how Voltron fed itself from my power and when it appeared, it was covered in fire. We wasted no time and launched forward to the opening of the quintessence field, stabbing the sword in its center. A shockwave of light expanded from it and grew in size until it swallowed us whole. A closed my eyes for a brief moment because of the intensity of the light but when I peeked, what I saw was mesmerizing. All around us was a bright blanket of white, there was no place where the darkness could hide. The power inside of here felt immense making me feel alive. There was so much power at my fingertips, I just needed to reach for it and it would do as I pleased.

"Whoa." Lance gasped.

Looking further ahead, in the distance, stood a small form; no doubt Lotor waiting for us. The figure moved forward with promptness; we placed our sword up and sped forward to meet him halfway. Our sword clashed loudly countless times as we tried to best one another, but in here we were equals. The same energy he was tapping into was ours. The two titans were evenly matched, the only difference was ours had six souls fighting together while Lotor would always be alone. We had each other and that made us stronger.

Lotor managed to shoot us with his arm cannon, pushing us back, but the alarms did not scream in our ears.

"We took a major shot, but I feel fine." Pidge stated.

"All this quintessence is keeping us at full power." Hunk pointed out.

"It's more than that." Keith said, "Can you hear your Lions talking to you? Voltron is capable of more than we ever imagined."

Keith was right, Nimawe was linked with me in every way possible. It was like the bond I held with Storm, strong and unbreakable. She was looking out for me like she did with my father so long ago. Nimawe was ready to fight anything that came her way, opening her full quintessence field to me. There were no more boundaries between us, she had become a part of me, mending us together like a chain. I heard her whisper my name like the first time I set eyes on her, when I was to become her new Paladin. It was destiny that brought us together and we were not going to let each other perish. That was the real meaning of the bond between a lion and its Paladin. Zarkon never understood, he just craved for more power until simply the Black Lion wasn't enough.

"Let's do this." I said under my breath and pushed my right handle forward shooting a beam from Voltron's chest sending Lotor flying back. He escaped my lion's line of fire and flew around to engage with his swords. Lance and Pidge placed Voltron's sword and shield in front.

"Attack!" Keith ordered.

We all shouted a battle cry and moved forward to fight; our swords created streaks of color in the misty white plane with each swoop. Voltron moved faster than we had ever thought capable and even fired lasers out of its eyes.

"See if you can dodge this!" Pidge exclaimed, and she fired her lion's head, detaching it from the rest of the arm; whooshing around Lotor quickly, distracting him.

"Come and get some!" Lance stated, and the ion cannon appeared in his lion's jaws firing at Lotor with a great ball of energy. Lotor flew back, destabilized.

"Take that!" I mocked.

"Let's end this!" Pidge stated.

"Finish him!" Lance added.

"Let's destroy that guy!" Hunk exclaimed.

"We have to get out of here." Allura spoke up.

"What are you talking about?" Keith asked.

"This is exactly what happened to Zarkon." Allura stated, "Exposure to all the quintessence turned him into a monster!"

"Your right." I agreed, "We need to exit the quintessence field, you humans are not use to being surrounded by so much energy, it will drive you mad. Voltron has protected us from the full exposure, but Lotor… he must already be going mad with power."

"They have a point." Lance said, "We're out of control!"

"All our systems are overloaded." Pidge informed.

"Here comes Lotor." Keith warned.

I activated the back boosters and moved us up, out of his way; he trailed behind us in a magenta streak.

"How do we stop this?" Hunk asked.

"We give Lotor all the power he wants." Allura answered, she activated the reverse boosters letting Lotor fly by and turn around to face us.

"Too much energy would surely overload his systems, he will not be able to sustain it." I said.

I drew into myself all the energy I could muster from the surrounding quintessence field and fed it to my lion who had reached her max capacity. I closed my eyes and connected with Voltron and the insignia on its chest began to glow white as the power coursed through my lion. I fired the energy beam onto Lotor, not withholding anything. He tried to keep pushing forward but the energy was too much for him and kept on flying back. At this point, I opened the pool of my powers to my lion, flooding her with my elemental energy, making the beam three times bigger. An immense amount of power coursed through me and passed, like an electric current, from the center of my chest, to my arms, and finally to the palm of my hands. The power did not drive me mad, because I had tasted unlimited amounts of it before and I had refused to become a monster like Zarkon. I now comprehended the need of the ancients to test me in every way possible to resist the calling of power and losing myself to it. They had prepared me for this moment; much like the givers of life, I gave it up willingly because what really mattered to me was the people inside the other lions and those who waited our return in The Castle of Lions. No one, not ever Lotor, was going to prevent me from protecting the people I loved.

As he reached for us, a few feet away from Voltron's chest, I fired the last of our energy throwing him back offline. His mech sizzled and sparked with the overload of energy drifting away into the whiteness.

"Let's grab Lotor and get out of here." Keith said.

"No, we can't." Pidge stated, "We have to leave now."

"We must try." Allura voiced.

"Pidge is right." Hunk retorted, "We stay in here much longer and Voltron is done for."

Our control panels sparked with electricity as Voltron's system began to reach critical mass.

"But we can't just leave him." Allura shot back.

"He's floating away, if we are to get him, we must do it now!" I exclaimed having a flash of compassion.

"Allura, we have to go now!" Lance yelled.

"Even if he did unspeakable things, no one deserves to die in here its… its inhumane." I stated.

Keith appeared on my dashboard, "Lotor's made his choice. Let's get out of here."

I exhaled, "I'm sorry Allura, I wish things would have turned out differently." I turned us around to exit the quintessence field with a heavy heart, but in this case, it was ether us or nothing. We came out of the field and turned to gaze upon dozens of white holes surrounding the area; the energy of the field radiated from them, I could still feel it from afar. "If we had stayed in there a bit longer, we would have continued to duel until there was nothing left… no even our bodies." I said grimly.

"What did you do in there?" Keith asked.

"I collected as much quintessence into myself and transferred it to Voltron until the energy capacity reached its peak." I answered, "My father helped me discover it in the elemental plane, it was how I was able to summon so much power to travel through the universe at light speed to get here in time."

"Thank you, Taylin." Lance said, "You saved us all."

"Not just us." Hunk added, "The entire universe."

I sighed, "But the price was too high."

I felt the presence of Storm come near as the castle approach and gave me a metal embrace not saying anything, just reminding me he was here with me. I leaned back in my seat enjoying our closeness and giving myself some room to finally take a breath.

"Oh, your back!" Coran exclaimed over the comm.

"Lotor is no longer a threat." Keith informed.

"Right." Coran agreed, "I'm afraid we face a bigger threat now."

"What now?" I could not help but to whine.

"All of Lotor's jumping in and out of the quintessence field has created multiple growing rifts in the fabric of time and space."

"What does that mean?" Lance asked.

"It means unless we do something fast, those tears will continue to expand until all of existence as we know it has been destroyed." Pidge explained.

"There has to be something we can do." Keith stated.

"It appears we can't catch a break." I said under my breath.

"Scanning the rift for any strand prefabrication possibilities." Pidge informed.

"I'm running a few different models to see if there's any chance it can close on its own." Hunk added.

A beeping came over Pidge comm, "Nothing."

"Nope." Hunk said, "Me neither."

"How long do we have?" Keith asked.

"Well based on the way those rifts are expanding, about fifteen doboshes." Coran answered.

"Allura, you have to have a way to close it." Lance stated, "If you were able to open it, then there must be a way to close them. Voltron opened it up, maybe we can… I don't know! There's gotta be a way!"

"I'm sorry, but I just don't possess that level of alchemic knowledge." Allura apologized.

"Taylin?" Lance asked.

"I'm as stump as anyone, Lance." I voiced, "I don't have the ability to control space and time."

"The only thing that could possibly pull that rift closed would be a source of gravity more powerful than a supermassive black hole." Pidge informed.

"Any chance we can find one and tow it over here in fifteen doboshes?" Lance asked.

"Wait a tic." Coran spoke up, "The teludav."

"What about it?" Keith asked.

"In order to make wormhole jumps, the teludav creates a brief flash of infinite mass. There might be a way I can overload the teludav and seal the rift. If one of the flashes went off in the rift, it could do the job."

"But that would mean sacrificing the Castle of Lions." Hunk voiced.

My stomach dropped at the news.

"What choice do we have?" Pidge pointed out, "The Castle will be wiped out with the rest of us."

"But still…" Hunk trailed off, "It's been our home."

"Oh, I hate to say goodbye to my grandfather's creation, the last piece of the real Altea." Coran said with sadness.

"Coran, begin preparations." Allura ordered, "Everyone else, start unloading the Castle. We need to evacuate immediately."

We disbanded back into lions and headed to our perspective hangars; as soon as I touched down, I ran out of my lion's jaws towards my room. Storm intercept me halfway there and I jumped up to hug his neck, after all I had been through, he was my only anchor that kept me sane.

 _"I hate to see this place go."_ Storm stated grimly.

 _"We don't have a choice. Material things come and go, but there is only one universe. It's our duty to save it from destruction. Now come, help me load everything we can onto the White Lion, we don't have much time."_

I loosened my grip on his neck and took off running again, barging in to my quarters. I grabbed two light weight metal chests from underneath my bed and began to shove things from my closet and bathroom into them without a second glance. Everything that was dear to me, reminders of my past life, were stored away until I had they were full of my belongings. I proceeded to grab my bed covers and a few pillows to set up a temporary sleeping accommodations inside my lion's hold; who knew how long it would be until we decided on our next course of action. Storm pressed a button on the chests that made them hover a few inches above the ground and pushed them out of my room. We were about to head down the hallway when my gaze landed on Shiro's room.

"Wait." I said stopping Storm from moving forward.

I walked into Shiro's room and collected the little belonging he had, including his bedding, and placed it inside the chest that contained mine. I nodded my head for him to proceed and he resumed his task.

 _"Over all the commotion I forgot to ask, how is he?"_

 _"He still breaths."_ Storm answered plainly; he held resentment for what Shiro had done since he went AWOL. He had skimmed through my memories on the station to my return to the castle.

 _"He didn't know what he was doing."_ I reminded, _"Shiro would have never hurt me like that."_

 _"It sure sounded like him."_ He spit back.

 _"It wasn't him, I can assure you…. Even though he is not the original Shiro, he still contained his essence and that's what matters to me. I too thought that everything we lived through had been a lie, but thinking back, all those memories we had together are forever engraved in my memory."_

 _"He could have killed you!"_ He stated with anger.

 _"But he didn't. End of story."_ I finished the conversation and walked ahead coming across Pidge who headed inside her hangar. She nodded in acknowledgement and disappeared from view. We walked into my hangar and the White Lion lowered her head opening her jaws to us. Storm accommodated the chests on a far corner along with the other various items I always had in case of emergencies; things that could serve my daily needs if I ever got stranded, I had packed all these items ever since my crashing landing on Trinder.

"Is everyone almost finish loading?" I asked over the comm.

"Yeah, just about it." Coran came through.

"Allura?" I asked softly.

"Don't worry about me, I have loaded everything I need onto the Blue Lion."

"Shiro has been transported inside the Black Lion." Keith informed.

"Kaltenecker and the mice are a go too." Hunk mentioned.

"It appeared were all set." I said taking a seat and moving my lion to the exit tunnel, "Prepare for launch, we must leave as soon as possible."

"The teludav has begun to power on." Coran informed.

"Everyone launch!" Keith ordered.

All six lions exited the castle heading in the opposite direction as a white hole swirled in front of the castle. I dreaded the loss of the Castle of Lions. It had been my shelter for more than ten thousand years and my home countless times. It was that piece of our past that still resided with us. My lion placed a screen of the ship going into the white hole. The white light engulfed it bit by bit. "Goodbye." I whispered; a silent tear trailed down my cheek.

The castle finally made it all through causing a great explosion, bathing everything in bright white. The explosion contracted into a small orb and the shockwave of the castle's overloaded teludav rocked our lions causing us to hold on tightly. The light suddenly vanished, and I turned around to see the empty spot where the castle and the white hole used to be. It was like the menacing threat of the rift never occurred, but the throbbing pain of losing our home was the reminder of the great sacrifice.

"It worked." Hunk cheered.

"You did it, Coran." Allura praised.

Coran stayed silent, he was the once who felt the most pain over losing the castle; it was his grandfather after all who builds it so long ago.

"Look." Hunk said.

There in the distance shined something blue; Hunk rushed forward to investigate.

"What is it?" Keith asked.

"It's a diamond." Hunk answered, "The pressure crushed the Castle of Lions into this little diamond." He took the small crystal into his lion's jaws; the Castle had left us something to remember it by, as if we could ever forget it; that thought made me smile.

"Well, we saved all realities everywhere." Lance said, "What do you guys want to do know?"

"We need to find some place to land and see if there's some way we can help Shiro." Keith stated.

"Let's head to that galaxy, and land on the first planet we spot that is habitable." I said and moved forward with the others following close behind. I scanned the area as we neared and detected a small rocky planet close to a star. I banked left and saw it among thousands of debris; I gasped as I recognized it. It was the place where the dying star exploded, but from the wreckage emerged a new world; I watched it with fascination. This planet would do to settle down for a bit and attend to Shiro, who's life slowly faded away.

We broke the atmosphere and landed on a ridge overlooking a giant crater. I pushed off my sit with Storm hot on my heels to rush to Keith who carried Shiro in his arms. He placed him on the ground softly being careful not to hurt him more than he was already. I touched his face with the back of my fingers, looking over his features for any sign of recuperation but to my dismay, I felt his life force seeping away.

"This body is barely living but Shiro's spirit is alive." Keith said, "Its inside the Black Lion. I've heard him talking to me."

"I heard him too." I said lowly trying to hold back my tears.

"He… he tried to tell me, but I didn't realize." Lance spoke; he came to my side and kneeled down with tears in his eyes, "I'm so sorry, Shiro. I— I didn't know. I could've…" I looked at him and seeing him that way just broke me, salty streaks poured over my face, grazing my lips and dripping off my chin. I took off my helmet to discard it to the side and took Shiro's hand, bringing it up to my face and kissing his palm; Allura placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"I can't… I can't lose him." I said between scuffles, "I can't lose him again."

Allura touched the side of my face wiping away a few tears and gave me a smile before standing up and heading before the Black Lion. The great beast watched her with its amber eyes, its chin touching the ground, crouched down on all fours. She placed her hands on his lower mouth and bowed her head. Suddenly a pink light appeared underneath her hands expanding from them to the rest of the Black Lion. Black's eyes glowed with intensity, its features outlined by that pinkish glow. It traveled like circuits from its tail until it ended back in Allura's hands and her entire being glowed. She turned around and opened her eyes, but they were no longer that sparkling blue, rather, a luminous white. She returned to my side and kneeled down by Shiro's head taking hold of it with both her hands. Shiro radiated along with her and I watched awestruck as his hair became a snowy white. Allura's eyes slowly returned to normal and the glow died down as she transferred all the quintessence into Shiro's body.

Shiro suddenly opened his eyes glowing in the that magnificent pink and his grey pupils appeared in a flash. He sat up quickly, coughing, gasping for air; he groaned as he leaned on me, placing his head on my shoulder. I still could not believe my eyes, Shiro was alive and breathing; Allura had brought him back for me. I gazed her way with more tears, but with a smile thanking her for what she had done. She smiled back at me and nodded her head.

The Black Lion stood up from its hunched position and roared; the other lions followed its lead filling the air with their might. My lion cocked her head to the side and bowed her head as if she was happy for me. Coran and Hunk laughed and cheered hugging each other. Storm gave a loud perching roar of triumph spreading his wings up like sails.

"You found me." Shiro whispered.

"We're glad your back, Shiro." Keith stated with a small smile.

I ran a hand through his hear and placed a kiss to his temple, "Sleep, love." He closed his eyes and buried his face in the crooked off my neck, his breath tickled my skin; it made me want to explode with happiness just feeling that.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Hunk asked, "The Castle is destroyed."

"There's only one place that has the plans necessary to build a replacement for the Castle of Lions." Pidge stated, "Coran gave them to my dad."

The others stood up to watch the light of the star in the horizon with smiles.

"We're going home." Keith said.

What seemed to feel so distant was now right in front of us. I had thought of going to Earth, but I always saw it as something that would take years to happen. My human friends were finally going to see their home planet and I was going to join them to keep on fighting because one of the reasons to keep doing so, laid securely in my arms and I wouldn't have it any other way.

"I'm sorry for leaving." Shiro whispered weakly to my neck.

I leaned my head on his and looked up at the Black Lion, a chuckle escaping my lips, "You never did."

* * *

Hey my fellow readers!

Sorry I been MIA but I been extremely busy with a project I started.

It feels nice to upload again.

I hope you all enjoyed it and thanks for all the support.


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47**

 **The Little Things**

What truly is a soul? A connection between realities to one's physical and spiritual planes? The embodiment of our feelings inside our hearts? Or a personification of who we really are? In reality, our bodies would be empty without one.

My mate's life stood between life and death. He walked a thin line; a path I could not follow. Shiro had to find a way to take a step back from the verge. The only thing I could do was stand back and pray to the ancients to give him the strength to keep his soul inside the clone body. There was a profound realization in my gut that I had lost everything. All the things I held dear seemed to just wanted to disappear from existence. My planet, the Castle of Lions, parents, friends, even my own people were all gone. I did not want to lose him again; the pain would be too excruciating to bare.

Allura stood close to me, placing a comforting had on my shoulder.

"Is— is he gonna be okay?" Hunk asked as we all looked at Shiro inside the stasis pod.

"Only time will tell if this body will accept Shiro's consciousness." Allura voiced.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Lance asked.

"Shiro must find a way back to us on his own." I responded grimly, "This is a battle he must fight alone…. We can't do much. Just wait."

"I've tried contacting the Voltron Coalition, but I can't get through to anyone." Pidge informed tapping on her holographic screen, "It doesn't make any sense. There might be some distortion I'm not picking up on."

 _"Or perhaps we are too far away to be heard."_ Storm said.

"You might be right." Pidge stated, "Maybe we need to get into the upper atmosphere for a better signal."

"The Lions aren't going anywhere without recharging their power cores." Hunk retorted.

"The battle with Lotor severely depleted them." Allura said, "If we had the Castle of Lions, we could recharge them, but…" She trailed off looking down with a sad expression at the loss of the Altean Castle. I placed a hand over her own on my shoulder and gave is gentle squeeze.

"Is there another way to recharge them?" Pidge asked.

"They can recharge naturally given enough time and ambient energy, but that might take phoebs." Coran answered.

"There's gotta be something we can do." Keith stated.

"Well we are on the Dalterian Belt, home to the element faunatonium." Coran said, "We may be able to use it as a temporary solution."

"Faunatonium?" Lance said confused, "How will that charge the power cores?"

"Well you see, it involves gluon field fluctuations—" Coran began to explain placing a hand on his waist, but Lance interrupted him.

"You know what? Never mind. Magic or something? Sure."

"Not far off." Coran stated, "We're going to use the element to expand the energy particles within the cores." He placed a finger to his chin in thought, "But first, we're gonna need a Yalmor."

"Wait, there are Yalmors on this planet?" Hunk asked.

Coran huffed, "How do you think we find the faunatonium? Yalmors have a nose for that stuff."

Keith looked down at the ground thinking over Coran's words, "Element…" He trailed off but quickly rouse his gaze to look at me, "Taylin, would you somehow be able to recharge the lions? I mean you have done that sort of thing when we traveled through space at light speed."

I sighed, "Recharging one lion is one thing, powering five more, that's another. It could take me a lot of time, time we clearly do not have." I placed a hand on the glass of Shiro's pod.

"Okay." Keith said, "You guys find a Yalmor and get this faunatonium. I'll stay with Shiro."

Krolia took a step forward to place a hand on her son's shoulder and gave him a small smile.

"I'll stay as well." Allura voiced, "I may have exhausted the limits of what I learned on Oriande, but I still might be able to help in some way."

"I'm staying as well." I said, planting my feet firmly by Shiro's pod.

"All right, then, we'll get started." Coran stated and followed Pidge and Hunk out.

"Wait." Romelle spoke up stopping them, "You just fought Lotor, defeated him, stopped an explosion that could have destroyed reality, took you friend's conciseness from the Black Lion of Voltron, and put it inside his clone, and now we're simply moving on?"

We all looked at her expressionless.

"Trust me, I'm always saying the exact same thing, but these guys like to move on." Hunk responded and turned to continue to the exit; Romelle said nothing more and followed after them.

 _"I am going to try to get high enough to see if I can get into contact with anyone of the coalition."_ Storm informed me.

I looked back at him and nodded.

 _"Be strong little one, things will begin to fall into place."_ With that he turned to leave and commanded his armor to expand until his body was covered whole by the silver plaiting.

I didn't know what it was, but something about his words just made me feel very emotional, tears threatened to spill from the brim of my eyes. I looked down at the pod once again, trying to hide my feelings from the others present.

Allura placed an arm over my shoulder and rested her head on my own, "He's going to be okay, Taylin. He will pull through, I know it."

"I hope the ancients hear you." I said lowly, "He has become my home, without him, I don't know what I will do."

I looked up a bit and saw Krolia give me a sad smile, somehow, I felt like she understood what I was going through. She was so much like Keith that I felt like I knew her for more than a few vargas. I returned my gaze to Shiro analyzing every detail of his face, he looked so peaceful with his eyes closed. His knew hair color brought out his handsome features. The scar over his nose graced his face like a decoration. I truly wanted to see him open his eyes and be captivated by the gray gaze that pierced straight into my core. Everything time he looked at me, a warm pleasant feeling coursed inside my stomach and spread out to my spine. It was as if my heart would swell to make more room for all the affection I felt.

We had been through so much together, and even though it was a clone of him, he had never ceased to be my Shiro. From the first time I saw him, the universe knew we were meant for each other.

~Flashback~

 _Training had been difficult on all of us, I was starting to get accustomed to the other Paladins, but some were a bit difficult to work with. Pidge thought of tactical ways in taking down her enemy since her height proved to be a disadvantage to bigger foes but that did not bring her down. Hunk was a bit rusty in the techniques of fighting, he was more a diplomacy type of being; I admired that about him. I believed that violence should be the last resort and if things could be solved by speaking than there was no better way to resolve conflict. Lance was very energetic when it came to facing new obstacles, but he could be a bit gullible making him an easy target in combat training. The gladiator was able to take him down more times than I could count. Keith was a whole different story, he set his goal and concentrated in carrying out his tasks but sometimes his temper would get the best of him. The others seemed to shy away from him when his angry side showed, but I knew he only needed to be taught how to control it. Keith was a mystery to me, he seemed to always be brooding in a corner refusing to get too close to anyone in the team; the only one I would see him really open up was with Shiro. Of them all, Shiro was the one I mostly looked up to. Something about him made me gravitate towards him unconsciously and I would often find myself standing right next to him. It was probably the connection we were creating when we formed Voltron. The pilots of the Black and White Lions worked closely together to pilot Voltron and as the Paladin of White, I had a strong connection to all the Paladins since my lion formed the heart and wings of Voltron, it held everyone together._

 _I was in the training deck after tossing and turning in my chambers. Since it seemed I was not going to be able to get any sleep, I decided to get dressed in my Paladin armor and head to train to see if that would help tire me out. I held my Bayard firmly in my right hand as I walked through the hallways until I reached my destination. The doors opened, welcoming me in, and I proceeded to stand in the middle of the room._

 _"Begin training sequence, level one."_

 _"Training sequence, level one initiated." A female's monotone voice rang, "Gladiator Released."_

 _The robotic gladiator fell from the ceiling, landing firmly on its feet, it raised its gaze to analyze me and summoned its bow staff; taking a fighting stance. With a single thought, I ordered my Bayard to transform, it glowed white before a long white with gold elegant sword materialized in my grip. I began to move to my right slowly and the gladiator imitated my every move. We circled around each other, none of us making a sudden move to attack. If seemed like a slow dance between two lovers who refused to touch each other afraid of rejection. Our feet made no sound and only my slow breathing could be heard in the room. I stopped moving suddenly and the gladiator took the first strike. It swung its staff trying to hit my head, but I block it to my right inches away from my eye, with a loud clang. I pushed against his weapon and kicked its abdomen pushing it back to give me space to maneuver. It recovered quickly, running to the left and coming around to swing at the back of my knees. I jumped over the staff and brought my sword down hard on its weapon, taking it out of its grasp. I hit its head with the pommel of my sword offing it, making it fall at my feet with a loud bang._

 _Someone clapped their hands, startling me, and I turned around pointing the tip of my sword at them. Shiro lifted his hands up in surrender with a small smirk on his face, "Easy, friendly."_

 _I lowered my sword down, "I thought no one would be up this late since our hard trying yesterday."_

 _"I couldn't sleep so I wondered through the castle and heard you fighting." He stated taking a few steps forward._

 _"Me ether, I thought I would be tired, but sleep seems to scape me tonight."_

 _Shiro looked down at the offline gladiator and tapped it with the tip of his foot, "You took it down in less than a minute… impressive."_

 _His comment made my cheeks heat up for some unknown reason and I gave give a nervous smile trying to find my composure but failing miserably so I thought of the first thing that came to mind, "You wanna spar?"_

 _As soon as those words left my lips, I wanted to smack myself, "Really, Taylin. Spar? He doesn't even have a Bayard." I mentally scolded._

 _"Sure, why not." Shiro responded with a smile._

 _"I know you can defend yourself, but you lack a weapon." I pointed out, "Your arm will only get you so far."_

 _"Is that a challenge?" He asked with a smirk._

 _"It might be, but I'll make it evenly matched." I copied his smile._

 _I tapped into the pool of my powers and summoned my sword Tempest to my left hand, it appeared in a ripple of light. Shiro looked down at it amazed, "How did you do that?"_

 _"Tempest is connected to my quintessence and I can conduct any element of my choosing." I explained, "It was a gift from my father when he finally let me join the war." I extended the sword to him and he grabbed it analyzing its blueish surface. The light caught on its body and shimmered in different hues of the color._

 _"Unique."_

 _I nodded my head, "Now, let's start."_

 _I took a few steps back and bended my knees taking a fighting stance; Shiro placed Tempest before him opting for a straight back position. I stomped my right foot as if I would attack him but kept my place. He grabbed the sword with both hands ready for the blow, but I just let out a low chuckle. Shiro came at me brining the sword down and I blocked it taking one step back. We began to attack each other, trying to best one another with hard blows but it seemed that our strength was evenly matched. I spun around and leaped to kick his side dropping him to the floor. I was going to finally end the match when Allura's voice suddenly came from the entrance making me lose concentration and footing. I tripped, but instead of meeting the hard floor, I landed on something soft. I looked up to gaze into Shiro's eyes as he held my waist, so I would not roll off._

 _"Um, thanks." I stuttered._

 _"What are you two doing up so late?" Allura asked, "Almost all Arius can hear you."_

 _I lifted myself off Shiro and extended a hand to him which he took graciously._

 _"Sorry, we just got carried away." Shiro apologized._

 _Allura smirked and left the room._

 _We looked at each other and began to laugh, "Come, we really should get some sleep."_

 _I followed his lead to the exit and he motioned for me to go first when the doors opened. I gave him a wide smile and continued on to my room._

~End of Flashback~

"His levels are getting dangerously low." Allura voiced, breaking me out of a memory.

"Fight." Keith told him, "I won't give up on you."

I moved to stand beside him and place a hand over his that rested over the pod, "We won't give up on you."

Keith flipped his hand around and grasped mine tightly.

~Flashback~

 _Shiro's hand on top of mine felt heavy even though he only held it there lightly. The light of the rising sun of the Balmera made all his features glow. I wanted to touch his face and outline every part of it with the tip of my finger, but I did not know if it was the right thing to do so I held back, much to my dismay._

 _"Thank you for looking out for me." I said with a smile._

 _"You don't have to thank me." He stated and lifted his hand to place a piece of hair, that had fallen over my face, behind my ear. I spark of electricity coursed through me in an instant, the hairs on my arm stood up. Shiro retreated his hand to place it in his lap and looked toward the horizon. I could still feel the ghost of his touch on my temple. Suddenly, the rising sun held no interest to me and all my attention was on the human beside me. No one in my entire life time had ever captured my gaze like he did._

~End of Flashback~

I promised myself that I would never let any harm come to him, but it seemed I had failed. Shiro was always looking out for me even before we knew what we felt. He was selfless, caring, and kind; someone like that deserved a second chance.

~Flashback~

 _"Come on Taylin, I feel much better." Shiro nagged, "Please let me get up and out of my room. I want to help."_

 _I pushed him back into bed and crossed my arms, "Nope, nope, nope. You been through a lot, your body needs rest."_

 _"But I feel fine."_

 _"I'm not gonna budge, Shiro. You can keep asking over and over, but my answer will not change."_

 _I turned my head to the side in sign of defiance, I was really worried about his health. I did not want him to strain himself more than he had too or start worrying about the war. Shiro had only been back for three days and all the care I had given him alongside the others had quickened his recovery, but I needed to know for sure he was alright._

 _"You are risking your life going on missions while I'm here doing nothing."_

 _"Gosh, your starting to sound like me." I said with a tiny smile._

 _"Destined people think alike." He said._

 _I huffed and let my arms fall to my sides before turning to look at him, "Could you at least wait one more day, please. Just one more day." I place a finger up emphasizing my point. Shiro gave me an unamused look and I pouted._

 _He stared at me for a few ticks and sighed, "Fine."_

 _"Yes!" I cheered and jumped onto the empty side of his bed and embraced him._

 _"Wow, never seen anyone so happy to keep me under room arrest."_

 _I lifted my head and placed my chin on his chest to gaze up at him, "Has it really been that bad."_

 _"Hm let me think." He tapped his lip, "Well not so bad since your here."_

 _I wide grin broke on my lips, "See, you admitted it yourself." I cuddled up to him and placed a kiss to his chest, "I just want to keep you safe, after all, I only got you back a couple of days ago. It's for my peace of mind."_

 _Shiro ran a hand through my hair delicately, "I'll always be here for you."_

 _His touch, scent and warmth all wrapped me in a lovely feeling and soon my eyes began to shut until I was fast asleep._

~End of Flashback~

Only the pod dared to make a sound as we watched helplessly. Time had slipped away from us, I stopped counting the ticks that went by long ago. I wanted to scream and run away from this place to never return but I knew that if I did, I would be hollow inside. Shiro held a piece of my heart in his hands, it would be like ending my life.

 _"You have to pull through, you have to pull through…"_ I thought over and over again as if somehow, he could hear me, but I did not dare to touch his mind afraid of what I would find.

"I'm afraid the clone body is rejecting Shiro's consciousness." Allura said.

"There must be some way you can help!" Keith stated urgently.

Allura looked down at Shiro with a sad expression and closed her eyes in defeat, "There's nothing I can do."

Keith gripped my hand tighter and pulled at my arm until we stood face to face, "We can't let him perish, we have to do something. You care about him as much as I do, please do something."

"I… I cannot tamper with a consciousness, it something that is out of my control." I said grimly, tears flowed from my eyes but this time I didn't care if they saw them. I felt how they traveled over my face and fell when they reached my chin creating soft thuds as they hit the floor. It suddenly felt like I could not breath and a sob emanated from the deepest part of my being. I rushed to Keith's side and place my head on his shoulder, crying uncontrollably. Krolia touched my back and rubbed small circles trying to console me and Keith wrapped an arm around me.

Keith slammed his free hand on the pod making me jump a bit in fright, "Shiro, please. Fight!" He too began to sob and his hold on me grew as he used me for support, "You can't do this to me again."

The beeping continued for a few ticks until the pod made a high-pitched beep, I rouse my head to look as the surface of the pod disappeared and Shiro coughed to life. I gasped and blinked a couple of times trying to make sure that my mind was not playing games with me.

"Shiro." I whispered softly and detached myself from Keith to place a hand on his head.

Shiro opened his eyes slowly and took a deep breath, "Taylin… Keith? I… I was dreaming."

"You… both of you… saved me." Shiro managed to say through breaths.

"We saved each other." Keith said.

He leaned down to hug Shiro in a warm embrace and when he let go, I grabbed his face and gave him a solid kiss on the lips. I opened my eyes to look deeply into his gray pools and smiled. Tears of joy appeared, and I laughed with content.

The doors to the Black Lion's bay suddenly opened and in came the other Paladins with Storm hot on their heels.

"Shiro's looking better." Lance stated happily, "All right!"

"Where were you guys?" Keith asked, "We couldn't get ahold of you."

 _"It's a long story."_ Storm voiced with discontent, _"It's not even worth mentioning."_

"Well, we were shrunk by a magic skunk, but we ended up using that sparkly dust that makes electricity bigger or whatever. Used it to unshrink ourselves." Lance explained, "So, ready to charge up the lions?"

 _"I should have stuck with my original plan and went up a mountain."_ Storm ranted, " _It was demeaning to be the size of an insect. Never had I ever been so degraded. I will make sure all those little pests go extinct."_

Everyone looked at him with shocked expression.

Shiro broke the silence with a chuckle, after we had helped him into a sitting position, "It's good to be back."

I smiled down at him and kissed his temple, "I love you."

He returned the smile and snaked his arm around my waist and rested his head on my stomach, "I love you too."

* * *

Hey everyone, I'm so happy to be back.

I have been super busy and really had no free time. My life just got a bit complicated but I super glad I was finally able to upload again.

Thanks to everyone who send me messages and for keeping up the support.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48**

 **Road to Earth**

Romelle was right, we do move on quickly. Everyone began to disperse to do their own thing. I stayed right by Shiro's side not wanting to be apart from him for even a tick. Storm seemed to have placed his resentment aside and accepted that Shiro never really wanted to harm me. He laid behind the crate we sat on in the middle of all the lions, vigilant. From time to time he would gaze down at us and when our eyes met, his glance would become soft and caring. Storm understood the amount of pressure I had just been through and even though he never had a mate, the experience of love he lived through me.

Pidge set out to her lion trying to contact the coalition, sending endless amounts of messages but no one answered them. I began to worry about the planets we had freed, afraid that we might have left an opening to the quintessence field unattended to. Shiro noticed my distress and grabbed my hand interwinding them together; I look up at him with a small smile. The other came back and stood close to our position and Pidge took a seat next to me.

"Were you able to contact Earth?" Shiro asked her.

Pidge hanged her head, "No luck. The low power levels are probably affecting our broadcast distance. I'll keep trying as we head to Earth."

"I can't believe we're finally going home." Lance said with his hands on his hips.

"I'm gonna hug my parents and never let go." Hunk stated with a dreamy smile and hugged himself.

"I can't wait to see how Dad integrated Altean and Earth technologies together." Pidge perked up, "I bet he came up with something amazing. And my mom…" She trailed off, "Oh, she gonna be so mad at me for running away." Pidge frowned, "I hope I'm not grounded."

I patted her head, "I'm sure your father told her of all the amazing things you have done. She probably misses you more than her anger for you leaving."

Pidge grinned at my reassurance and hugged my side, resting her head on my chest.

"How long you think it'll take us to get home?" Keith asked.

Coran began to count his fingers, "I was just calculating that now. Without the luxury of a wormhole and with diminished power cores, let me see, carry the one… Oh, it's gonna take us approximately one hundred fifty thousand Earth years."

We all gasped in horror and I accidentally leaned too far back landing in-between Storms talons and letting go of Shiro's hand. Storm tensed like a cat ready to pounce and his jaw hanged open.

"A hundred and fifty thousand years?" Keith shot at him.

"Coran, I think your finger counting is a little off." Pidge pointed out.

"There is no way we are even going to make it to Earth in this lifetime." I seethed straining my neck to peek over the crate; my right foot still laid on the surface.

"It's gonna be 1.5 years." Pidge corrected.

We groaned in relief and I rested my back on Storm's chest with a sigh. He lowered his head for me to grab on to one of his horns and brought me back to a standing position.

"Oh, right." Coran grinned in embarrassment, "I didn't carry the three."

"It's going to be a very long and difficult voyage, but it's our only chance to replace the Castle of Lions." Allura stated.

"There were times when I thought I'd never see Earth again." Shiro said looking down at the floor in thought, "To be able to go back—"

Lance suddenly jumped in front of him in excitement; I rushed to his side to steady him.

"Well, what are we waiting for, guys? Let's hit the space road."

"I suppose we need to figure out who's flying with whom." Krolia said.

"And what about the animals?" Coran reminded.

"What about them?" Pidge asked not seeing his concern.

"Well, the wolf can't go with Kaltenecker, wolves eat cows." Coran explained, "And the cow can't be in the same area as the mice because aren't cows afraid of mice?"

"No, elephants are afraid of mice." Lance corrected.

"Elephants?" Coran asked bewildered.

"Yeah." Lance placed his arm in front of his face imitating said animal; he covered his nose making his voice sound muffled, "They're giant gray animals with long noses that grab things."

"Giants with long, grabbing noses?" Allura asked shocked, "Earth seems so strange."

 _"I can't really imagine that."_ Storm said in thought trying to come up with a picture, but all his attempts seem weirder every time.

"The wolf is riding with me, but that means Hunk will have to take the cow." Keith stated.

Hunk pointed at himself, "Me with the cow? Not a good idea."

"Hunk's right." Lance spoke up, "Keith, you're keeping the cow. Someone else is gonna have to take the wolf."

We all turned to gaze at Pidge; she crossed her arms in displeasure, "Not me. I am allergic."

"I'll take the mice." Allura called.

"How come you get the smallest passengers?" Keith seethed crossing his arms.

Allura glared at him.

"I say we go old school and draw straws." Hunk said.

"Hunk, we don't have any drawing utensils." I pointed out, "Besides, since I do have the second biggest lion, I'll take Storm and Shiro with me."

Allura sagged her arms, "I'm terribly at drawing anyway."

"She really is." Coran said twirling his mustache, "One time, she tried to draw her Na-nan, but what she came up with, I've gotta say it looked more like a flan-bil-diplor."

I let out a giggle remembering our art classes with our instructors, Coran wasn't lying, she really didn't know how to draw. Her flowers looked like something exploded on the paper.

"Guys, you're all overthinking this." Lance rouse his voice, "I know exactly where everyone should go."

He began to direct us in how we should arrange ourselves and soon we had rushed to our lions to prepare for launch. Hunk had the mice, Allura the space wolf, Lance took Romelle, Keith shared his lion with Shiro, his mother, Coran and the cow and I had Storm. I was a bit disappointed that Shiro was not riding with me, but Lance insisted that I had the biggest passenger, hence, I could only carry one.

"Hunk and mice, ready to go." He informed over the comm turning on his lion.

"I'm ready too." Allura said, "But the wolf looks restless. How did I get stuck with it again?"

I chuckled at Allura's irritated tone, she didn't seem to like the wolf very much.

"I'd gladly trade you the wolf for—" Keith began but Coran spoke over him.

"I have a question. Why did we let Lance decide all this?"

"Enough whinnying!" Lance shot back, "Romelle and I are going to Earth, who's coming with us?"

I tapped my control panel and my lion's eyes turned on, Nimawe stood up on all fours and gave a low growl as a greeting.

"Storm and I are ready for launch." I said to answer his question.

I pressed my handles forward activating White's lower boosters and lifted her off the ground. We flew in our typical formation and exited the atmosphere of the small rocky planet. The darkness of space met us with twinkling eyes of the sea of stars that surrounded us.

 _"This is going to be along ride."_ Storm commented settling down behind my seat and peaking his head over mine.

 _"Indeed, but we don't have much of a choice. Earth is the only place we can go to get the help we need."_

 _"At least we'll have time to recuperate from all our past battles and be ready when we finally have a replacement for The Castle of Lions."_

I chuckled, _"I'm glad you're looking at the bright side of things."_

 _"It's my only option. Its either that or go space mad, take your pick."_

 _"No, no, it's alright. I like this Storm, passive and full of serenity."_

 _"Are you mocking me?"_ He asked placing his head right next to mine and squinting his eyes at me.

 _"Wouldn't dream of it."_ I stated with sarcasm.

We continued to talk about little things, everyone kept their comm channels open to past the time after a few vargas went by.

"Ah this is so great." Hunk's voice came over, "You guys are like the ultimate road trip companions."

"Oh, and I get to finally play some of your Earth road games." Coran voiced, "I'll go first. I spy with my little eyes something that starts with plexis."

"Coran, we don't know the Altean alphabet." Shiro stated.

"Well, then this is perfect!" He perked up, "I can teach you."

"Oh, no." I groaned under my breath.

"Exus, plexis, ceedus, flee, jaydus, nacto, pledum, ree…" Coran began to sing.

Storm summoned a blue water orb and I turned my seat around to see what he would do. He threw it at me and I placed my hand up before it hit my face, it hovered inches away from my nose.

"Hey!" I protested.

 _"Simple game of catch the orb?"_ Storm asked a bit bored.

"Sure, why not."

I swiped my hand to the right and made it fly towards him rapidly. He swung his head and hit it back at me. We continued the game, throwing the orb back and forth listening to the others chatter. Hunk kept taking pictures of the mice while Allura and Lance had some trouble with their passengers. I was just glad Storm and I got along, or the Lion would have not been able to withstand us both. She would have probably spit us out of her jaws and flew to Earth on her own. I mentally laughed at the thought and missed the orb, as Storm launched it over my head, hitting the main control panel. It activated the wing boosters and shot us forward almost hitting the Black Lion. I turned around and pulled on my handles with all my strength managing to get White to slow down. I breathed a sigh of relief, "Okay, no more catch the orb."

Storm nodded his head and grinned at me with a sheepish smile showing all his razor-sharp teeth.

"Taylin, watch her your flying." Keith scolded over the visual comm.

"Sorry, sorry. We just had an um, minor incident." I watched Storm with my peripheral vision and saw him lowering his head to hide himself, "Won't happen again." I pressed the off button on the comm and Keith disappeared from my screen.

 _"I think it's safe to say we have to come up with better ideas to pass the time."_ I voiced scratching my head.

 _"You have to admit though, that was funny and scary at the same time."_

We looked at each other for a few ticks until we began to giggle like little mischievous children.

"Guys, I think I did a bad job choosing the passengers." Lance stated with distress, hissing sounds could be heard in the background as well as Coran still singing the Altean alphabet. Everyone else began to speak at the same time; I could feel a headache coming on.

"That's it!" Keith exclaimed shutting them up, "We're switching passengers."

"I second that." Allura said.

"Agreed." Lance seconded.

Storm chuckled, _"It's a shame they can't speak through thought."_

I nodded my head in agreement.

"Hey, why haven't we heard from Pidge?" Hunk asked.

"Yeah. Wait, who's in her lion again?" Lance added.

"I don't know, you're the one that came up with this grouping." Keith responded.

"Well, she must have— no, they're with Keith." Hunk said in thought.

"Hm, Lance has Romelle, you have the mice, I of course have Storm…" I said counting everyone with my fingers, "Allura is stuck with the wolf, Keith— Oh." I finished in realization.

"Is she all alone?" Allura caught on.

"No wonder she been so quiet." I uttered.

With the help of Storm, the mice, Coran, Romelle, including the mutt, were all shoved into the Green Lion.

"Oh, come on, guys, this is so not fair." Pidge whined over Coran's and Romelle's constant talking.

"I call dibs on playing the video game first!" Coran shouted.

"But I already have the controller." Romelle remarked.

"Pidge tell Romelle to give me the controller. I called it first."

"No. Nope. Nu-uh. No way." Pidge said annoyed, "Can't do this."

Storm finally had enough of their fighting and touched everyone's minds, _"Can you please be quiet for one varga! You're going to make my ears bleed."_

The comm channel went silent for a while.

I sat on my seat with my head resting on the palm of my hand dozing off. I glanced to my left to see Storm curled up fast asleep. His powerful lungs took deep breaths and his tail twitched from time to time but thankfully he wasn't dreaming, it was simply a peaceful nap. I began to wonder myself when was the last time I actually had a goodnight sleep. It seemed I only slept when I could, the rest of my time was spent fighting or worrying. I took a deep breath and finally let my eyes shut, but Keith's voice startled me.

"Team, we're going to make a quick stop. Everyone follow me."

I placed my hands on my controls and followed behind him until we reached an asteroid field and, in the middle, stood a base.

Krolia open a channel to it, "Hailing Zailox Station. Please respond." The only answer she got was the crackling of static and she tried again, "Repeat, Zailox Station. Please, respond."

We got closer to the station and landed our Lions by the entrance. We disembarked through Nimawe's head hatch and followed after Keith who headed for the metal doors. Storm had decided to come along with his armor already in place when I took my first step out of my lion. Krolia went to the entrance's control panel, but it was of no use, the station was powerless. Seeing no other way in, Storm grew in size and nudged my shoulder with his snout for me to let him pass. The other took a few steps back and he dug his talons in-between the doors to pry them open. Krolia took point and we followed her inside; Storm taking the rear. The main chamber looked deserted, like there had not been anyone for a long time.

We crossed the cat walk using our jetpacks.

"It doesn't look like anyone's been here for years." Keith stated having the same thought.

We made our way to the main control panel and Pidge tapped a few buttons, but nothing powered on.

"The system won't boot." She said, "Looks like the backup generator has been out for a while."

"If the Blade of Marmora abandoned this place, that means something really bad must have happened." Hunk voiced.

"That's impossible." Krolia spoke up, "This base was still fully operational during my last check in with the Blades."

Suddenly the base shook violently, making me grunt, "What was that?!"

"Enemy ship! Incoming!" Coran yelled over the comm.

"Everyone, back to the lions." Keith ordered.

We turned around using our jetpacks to get to the exit quicker. As I got closer, my lion's eyes turned on and she roared, opening her jaws for us. I hopped in my seat and got ready to engage.

We followed Keith's lead off the station and trailed after five fighters.

"That's strange, we didn't pick up anything on the scanners when we arrived." I said, "How could they have gotten here so fast?"

"It looks like a small fleet." Keith said, "Mostly Galra fighters."

"That's good." Lance voiced, "We should be able to take them out pretty easily."

I moved out of the way of an incoming laser that almost hit my right wing; Storm slid to the side hitting the wall with a grunt.

"Yeah, but remember, we're not flying at full power." Pidge reminded.

"Pidge is right." Keith agreed, "Everyone stay sharp."

I growled as the same one tried to shoot me again, "I didn't think we would be engaging the Galra so soon."

"Keep an eye out." Lance stated, "Where there are fighters there's usually a cruiser nearby."

"Some of these ships look like they belong to Lotor's fleet." Romelle pointed out.

"How did you get in here?" I heard Allura gasp.

I was a bit confused by her statement but decided to ask later. I took cover behind an asteroid as the fighter fired once again and circled around coming up behind it. My lion's jaw cannon was still not operational because of her lack of power. I extend my hand out and moved the asteroid with my powers to intercept the fighter. It was not able to evade and crashed right into.

"One down, four more to go."

"We need to get out of here." Keith seethed.

"Guys, they've got me." Hunk said panicking, "I can't move."

I turned around to see him trapped in the clutches of magenta glowing lassos that emanated from the side of the enemy fighters. I transferred some of my energy to White until she had enough to summon her jaw blade. It appeared inside her mouth and she bit down on it as we moved to intercept Hunk.

"I'm coming Hunk." I told him, "I'm gonna cut the lines."

I pushed on my handles activating the wing boosters and swiped through the lines releasing Hunk.

"Thanks, Tay." Hunk breathed.

"We're getting our quiznaks handed to us." Lance spoke, "We need to do something. We need to form Voltron."

"Okay. Everyone in formation." Keith commanded.

I turned around to follow behind him as the others took the his left and right. We flew up, but nothing happened, and the alarms began to blare in our ears.

"It's not working!" Lance shouted.

"The lions don't have enough energy to transform." I stated.

"Hold!" Keith ordered.

My cockpit shook as we continued up, but something told me, Voltron was not going to make an appearance today.

"The Lions can't take much more of this." Allura informed.

"Abort!" Keith yelled we flew into different directions.

"What the heck just happened?" Lance exclaimed.

"As I said before, the Lions don't have enough energy to transform into Voltron." I answered.

"Can't you do that magic thing and power them up."

"Is not that easy." I shot back, "I require concentration and I still haven't fully recovered from our encounter with Lotor. A lot of my energy was also released in the last strike."

"So now what?" Hunk asked.

"We run." Keith exclaimed.

We dodge incoming fire and turned around heading in a different direction, hopefully the fighters would get tired of chasing us and retreat.

Pidge suddenly screamed, and her lion spiraled out of control. A chain of explosions lighted the black sky; one of them happened in front of my lion. I screamed as it hit us and went flying to the left. I pulled on my handles with all my might until I managed to stabilize White and get her to stop.

"Is everyone okay?" Lance asked worriedly.

"I'm okay." Pidge said.

"Me too." Allura added.

"No, nothing is okay." I growled, "We need to disappear, now!"

"What did we hit?" Hunk asked.

 _"Good question."_ Storm commented.

"Xanthorium crystals." Coran informed, "They've been cloaked."

"Well that explains it." I muttered grimly.

I nose-dived avoiding another explosion and pushed the Green Lion out of the way as a bright tunnel of light passed inches away from her hull.

"Whoa! Where did that come from?" Pidge asked.

"These fighters must have somewhere to return to…" I uttered under my breath until I realized, "The main ship must be cloaked too!"

"I've never seen the Galra use weapons like these before." Hunk retorted.

"And they're not using standard Galra battle formations." Allura added.

"How are we gonna get away?"

"They're trying to trap us by chasing us through this tunnel of crystals." Keith said.

"He's right." Pidge agreed, "Look, there more crystals up ahead."

My screen lit up with blinking dots, displaying the crystal's whereabouts.

"They're corralling us like we're space cattle." Hunk groaned.

"They backed us into a corner." Lance stated, "We got xathorium crystals all around us, pirates behind us, and a cyclone blocking our exit."

I huffed, "We're gonna have to make our way into the cyclone."

"What! Are you nuts!" Hunk exclaimed, "We'll get torn apart."

"We have no choice." Keith spoke up, backing up my idea, "Everyone inside. Hunk, that means you and I are gonna have to punch a hole through the storm and create a path for the team. You ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Wait." I said, "Let me take point, I can create a big enough shield to safeguard us from it."

"Do it!"

Keith let me pass and took my left flank while Hunk took my right. I concentrated in creating a shield amongst all the chaos and felt how Storm mended his energy with mine allowing me to create a half dome shield in front of the White Lion. I pushed through inside the vortex of the glowing green cyclone, but the strong winds was making it difficult to fly in a straight line.

"Guys, we can't take much more of this!" Lance shouted.

"Try to stay behind me, the shield is the only thing inside of here that can provide cover."

"How long can you keep it up, Taylin?" Keith asked.

"I don't know." I grunted as debris hit my shield's surface, "I'm already starting to see cracks."

"We need to find an exit point." Keith said.

"There's a volcanic ice plane nearby." Pidge informed, "It has geysers, steam vents, ice tunnels, extreme changes in temperature and an unstable core. Its super dangerous. It's perfect."

"Okay, team, let's do this." Keith ordered.

We banked right following the coordinates Pidge provided; amongst the green clouds, a planet hastily appeared. We broke the atmosphere with the Galra fighters hot on our flanks. The surface of the planet was covered in frozen jagged formations as far as the eye could see.

I dematerialized my shield and slowed down to let Keith take the lead. He led us down into a gorge as the fighters began to fire. They managed to hit the sides walls collapsing chucks of frozen stone.

"All right, everybody, stay in formation and follow me." Keith said.

Suddenly tunnels of water spouted from the walls in different directions.

"Geyser." Hunk exclaimed, "Geyser!"

We flew down avoiding the water jets managing to stay together, but so did the Galra. They fired and missed but their lasers hit a bridge formation on top of the gorge.

"Watch out for the falling ice." Shiro warned.

"A cave." Keith muttered, "That gives me an idea. Lance, bring up the rear. When everyone's through the tunnel, fire above the cave opening. Red should be fast enough to get in before the avalanche completely blocks the way."

"Roger that, team leader." Lance stated.

"We'll see each other on the other side."

Lance slowed down while we continued to quickly head for the cave opening. We made it inside and an explosion sounded behind us, I checked my radar and huffed in relief when I saw the Red Lion behind us, but we weren't safe yet. Seven fighters managed to get inside.

"Uh-oh! Some of them still made it through." Lance informed.

"Split up." Keith commanded, "We need to thin our attackers."

I followed the Black Lion along to the left tunnel than branched into three others inside. I took the furthest to the right with a fighter following close to my tail. It fired its restricting lines managing to get ahold of one of White's wings, making me hit the side of the tunnel. I growled, "Get off me!" I maneuvered us back to the middle, but it kept pulling me to the side. "I can't shake it!"

 _"I got this!"_ Storm said and heard metal clicking into place behind me; the doors to the cockpit hissed opened. I opened my lion's jaws and jerked to the left to avoid a spiked rock formation hanging from the ceiling.

 _"Storm! Any time now."_

 _"Your fancy…flying is making difficult."_

 _"You need to cut the lines or we're gonna lose a wing."_

Storm jumped out of the lion and flapped his wings flipping around towards the back. A few ticks went by when I felt the White Lion suddenly become free and a blast resonated through the cave.

 _"Thanks! Now get onboard."_

 _"No time just keep following the tunnel. We need to meet with the others as soon as possible."_ Storm said, " _I'll be right behind you."_

I mentally nodded and kept on speeding through the tunnel.

"Is everyone okay?" Keith asked over the comm.

"Clear." Hunk answered.

"Me too, thanks to Romelle." Allura said.

"Ship on our tail has been disposed off." I added.

"Well, Pidge and I need help." Lance exclaimed.

"Yeah, we can't shake these guys and we don't have any room to maneuver." Pidge stated.

"I see your location." Keith said, "We're headed your way."

"My tunnel should lead straight to you." I spoke up, "Just hold on a bit longer."

My scanners picked up three enemy ships coming up in front of us, but when we were finally able to get a visual, all three of them exploded. We followed after the Red and Green Lions towards the exit of the caves. The other three exited at the same time and I sighed in relief as I saw all of them reunited. Everything seemed fine until a strong ray of light hit us from above and pushed us to the ground harshly. I screamed at the force of the impact and panicked as Storm was still outside.

I called his name several times but received no answer.

* * *

Hey everyone, here is another chapter to make up for all the time I been gone.

Hope you all enjoy, and thanks for the lovely comments.


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49**

 **The Way Forward**

My second biggest fear had come true, getting capture by the Galra once again. I didn't know who would be in charge after the demise of Lotor and as the tractor beam lifted us up into the main ship, I couldn't help to think the worst. I verily survived my last imprisonment and my freedom had cost me dearly. I didn't just have to worry about one person, but my whole team. Storm still wasn't responding to my calls and his mind felt dormant, not even a wisp of a thought transpired, meaning he was unconscious. He must have hit his head pretty hard against something to have been able to knock him out; Storm was not so easily put down.

I felt how to pressure of the tractor beam lifted and my lion landed on a hard surface with a loud thud; six others followed, making the same noise. I looked outside and noticed cloaked figures approaching the lions with guns ready to fire. I needed to start thinking of a way to get us all out of this predicament and recommence our journey to Earth. It was not long before I heard various footsteps walking on my lion's head and the upper hatch forcibly being opened. I took a fighting stance behind my seat waiting for my enemy to make an appearance. Every breath I took counted the ticks that went by and suddenly the doors to my cockpit opened revealing six pirates. Their weapons made charging sounds as they all pointed them at me. I growled and jumped to the nearest one, kicking him on the groin and hitting his head with my sword's pommel. The others began to try to shoot me, but I moved quickly disposing of two others.

"Stay still you little…" One of them seethed trying to get a decent shot but missed me by a few inches.

I was about to come around and finish the remaining off when Shiro's voice came through my wrist communicator freezing me in place.

"Taylin… you must surrender, they have Pidge."

I gasped and lowered my sword down a bit but left no room for them to touch me.

"It would be wise to listen to your friend." One of the pirates said, his mask made his voice sound muffled, "Unless you want the little one to receive a shot to the head."

I growled under my breath and looked at them with hate as if somehow, I could burn them with my gaze, but they had me and worst of all, they knew it. I would not risk fighting my way through while my friend's life hanged in the balance. Pidge was a very important person to me, one who brought an instinct of protection anytime I was near her; much like a mother to her child.

I let my sword fall to the ground and lifted my hands up in surrender; the Bayard glowed white returning to its original form. The Galra in the middle reached down to pick it up and swung it around twice as if would turn on for him. I wanted to kick him back for having his dirty hands on my weapon but making any sudden move could be catastrophic. The Galra who had spoken before pulled out hand cuffs from his back; the bindings glowed a deep red. He came and pulled my hands in front of me and adjusted them to my wrist as close as possible to prevent me from even trying to grasp anything. They pushed me out of the cockpit without another word and brought me out of my lion where the others waited with the same restrictions on their wrists. Five other goons stood behind them, all pointing their guns at them, but what angered me the most was the far left; he had his gun strained closely to Pidge's head. She looked at me with sad eyes and looked down not being able to hold my gaze. Shiro looked a bit relieved to see that I had followed his instructions and huffed closing his eyes briefly. Someone grabbed my arm and pushed me against the others, Shiro took a step towards me, making me collide with his chest, preventing me from falling to the ground.

"Never thought to see the day when all the Lions of Voltron were secured in our ship." A soldier spoke up.

"But, weren't they only six of them?" Another asked scratching his head.

I looked behind me and saw Storm laying on his side, his right wing sprawled over the metal floor in an odd angle. His head rested almost upside down and his glowing blue eyes were turned off confirming my suspicions of his unconsciousness. No one said anything, and I was glad for it. It was best to have them keep thinking Storm was another part of Voltron than to try to find a way to terminate him or restrain him before he woke up. I glanced at the others and they all had a glimmer of hope in their eyes as they looked at the metallic covered Drako.

The Galra began to usher us out of the hangar and moved us through a maze of corridors. I took mental notes of each turn and familiarized myself with things that stood out to remember the way back. We reached a set of heavy metal doors and a buff looking solider let us pass to finally reach our destination. They shoved us all into a cell and closed the door.

"Now what?" Hunk asked.

"Now, we have to start coming up with a way to get out of here." I stated, "I don't know in how long Storm will regain conciseness. He will wake up disoriented and I much rather the Galra not know he is a living being than a ship."

"But he could be the only one who could get us out of here." Keith spoke up.

"Everyone just stay calm, we'll figure something out." Shiro said and went to stand on the right back corner of the holding cell. We followed his lead and I leaned my back on the wall by his side.

"Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm not just gonna stand there and wait to get rescued." Lance stated and moved to place his ear on the wall, sliding down and moving to the other side. He would make "hmm" sounds ever so often as if he was learning something we didn't know. We just watched him with expressionless faces.

"What are you doing?" Hunk broke the silence.

"I'm feeling for a secret passage." Lance answered.

"You've watched too many movies, Lance." Keith interjected, "There's no secret passage."

"Oh, really? Then how do you explain this?" He took a few steps back and kicked the wall. A tick passed by when he suddenly whimpered and doubled over in pain. "I meant, uh, this!" He went ahead and kicked the other wall to his left, but same thing happened. He jumped on one foot holding his injured one screaming "ow".

"Will someone shut him up?" Krolia said unamused.

"Lance just sit down, this is a cell, there are no hidden passage ways." I said, "Its meant to keep us in."

Krolia looked through the small window on the cell door, "There's only one guard patrolling out there. If we can get this door open, we can overpower him."

Lance whimpered with a pout but followed my instructions and finally sat down.

"What happened to Coran?" Hunk asked.

"He must have managed to hide when we were captured." Krolia responded.

"At least we have another ally out there still able to fight for us." Allura said.

"Are you saying our fate rests in Coran's hands?" Pidge asked bewildered.

Allura frowns in realization and we mimicked her; Coran was not well known for rescue plans.

"I will help you look for that passage." Pidge told Lance.

"I really hope the Drako wakes up soon." Krolia muttered.

I closed my eyes and extended my mind out to Storm, he still didn't give any signs of stirring up which was starting to worry me. What if something really bad happened to him? The armor should have covered him from the biggest part of the impact, I didn't understand how he had managed to knock himself out. I huffed and rested my head on the cold metal wall gazing up at the sealing. Everything seemed quiet for a few doboshes until the door to our cell hissed opened and in walked two armed Galra without their helmets. They stepped aside to let in two familiar faces; Lotor's generals.

"Looks who's here." Ezor said mockingly, "It's Voltron."

Zethrid smacked her hands together with an evil grin, her left eye looked white, "We're going to have a little talk."

"Hey, you're the guys that Lotor shot into space." Lance pointed out.

"And the ones that were trying to kill us." Pidge added.

"We defeated you once on that Galra base." I stated, "When you tried to steal a piece of the teludav."

"Yeah, sure, but we're all friends now, right?" Hunk asked with a hopeful grin, "I, for one, am glad you survived."

"I'm glad you survived, too." Ezor said with a smile, but I knew better; she might have a sweet voice, but her deeds made her as ruthless as her old master. "It's no fun torturing a dead person."

"Oh. So maybe not?" Hunk voiced unsure.

"Where have you been all this time?" Zethrid asked with authority, "And what happened to Lotor?"

"What are you talking about?" Shiro said.

"You really want to learn about Lotor after all he did to you?" I asked grimly, "He might have betrayed us, but you all suffered the greatest deception. Your statement holds no relevance."

"We're talking about you little disappearing act." Ezor explained.

"Answer the question!" Zethrid pushed, "How did you survive that explosion?"

"Don't you know?" Hunk countered their question, "You were there."

"I think there's a little confusion about how the we ask questions, you give us answers scenario works." Ezor said.

"Enough of your games." Zethrid second her, "Where is Lotor?"

"Lotor's dead." Keith answered plainly, "We left him in the Quintessence Field."

"Yeah, that doesn't really add up." Ezor said placing a hand on her hip, "Why aren't you dead?"

"Because of the power of teamwork?" Hunk answered.

"I'm going to ask you one more time, and then we're going to have to take a more extreme approach." Zethrid said seriously.

"The fun part." Ezor smiled.

"What happened to Lotor and where have you been all this time?"

"We don't know what you are talking about, we have been exactly where you found us. Lotor is gone and he is not coming back." I seethed, my blood was beginning to boil in anger.

"If you insist on maintaining this charade of ignorance, you leave us no choice but to apply pressure." Zethrid responded.

"Finally. Who's our first victim?" Ezor asked with excitement; her joy in inflicting pain made me sick.

Zethrid looked at each one of us, scrutinizing our forms with her one good eye, "You." Her gaze landed on Pidge who sat hunched over in-between Romelle and Hunk. "I'd bet half my fleet this group of heroes has a soft spot for the small one."

Ezor began to move toward us and I looked at her in shock scooting closer to Pidge's small frame afraid for her well-being.

Lance reacted in anger and moved to hit her, "Don't you touch her!" She proved to be too fast and side stepped him, sending him flying across the room.

Zethrid scoffed, "Your defiance is adorable and so very misguided."

"Leave us alone." Pidge stated angrily.

Ezor whipped her long tail, attached to her head, and grasped Pidge by the wrists bringing her towards her. Pidge yelled in fright and we screamed her name. She held her up by her neck inches away from the ground.

"Let her go!" Keith exclaimed angrily, he took a step forward but one of the soldiers came forth and pointed his gun.

"You better let her go this instant you coward!" I growled, "Mess with someone your own size."

She laughed and gave me a wide grin, "Perhaps you would like to be in my chocking hold, payback for nocking me out on our first encounter."

"Make it a fair fight and face me! But let her go!"

"Like if I would fall for that, you would probably use your powers on me. No-uh, not happening. I'm going to torture her right in front of everyone here and watch as you all suffer alongside her."

"Answers!" Zethrid barked.

"We told you, he's—" Keith didn't get to finish his sentence when the ship suddenly shook and the alarms went off.

"Hull breach in hangar one." A female computerized voice informed, "Lockdown sequence initiated."

Zethrid rushed out of the cell while Ezor hesitated, but finally let go of Pidge who fell to the ground with a groan.

I rushed to her side and helped her stand up inspecting her for any major damage but whatever had caused the disturbance had saved her. Krolia signaled for everyone to move towards the door with her head.

"This is it." She said, "The next time that door opens, overwhelm the guard."

Our group split in half taking point on each side of the door, I bended my knees a bit ready to strike at any given moment. Suddenly clanging and thudding noises were heard from outside followed by a loud groan. The door opened revealing the guard knocked down on the floor and the Altean mice waving at us, chirping happily.

"Hello, little friends." Allura greeted coming forth and kneeling.

The mice squeaked answering her.

"What?" She gasped.

They continued speaking to her in their tiny voices.

"Where?"

"What's going on, Allura?" I asked.

"Coran's trying to rescue us." She answered, "And he's got help." She turned around, "Acxa."

"What?" Keith asked unbelieving.

"Why would she help us?" I asked confused, but I was not expecting an answer. Someone calling my name desperately brought me out of my puzzlement.

 _"Taylin! Taylin! Where are you?!"_

 _"I'm fine, Storm. We just got captured by some of Lotor's generals, but the mice just released us we are on our way to you."_

 _"I have about a dozen Galra trying to shoot me down. The main cannon suddenly activated and shot a hole on the hangar. The lions are going to get sucked out!"_

 _"Do all you can to keep them together. We will try to reach you as soon as we can."_

"Paladins, we have to move. Storm has regained conciseness and is fighting some pirates, we need to go to his aid, now."

"Come on then." Allura waved us over. She grabbed a small device from the guard and pressed a button making our restraints disappear. We followed after her down the hall and heard some fighting commotions. I extended my mind out to see how many soldiers we would have to confront, but noticed it was just one and… Coran.

"We need to help Coran."

A big looking pirate was about to punch the poor Coran when Allura grew in size and rushed forward to punch the thug behind his head, knocking him out. She shrunk back to her normal stature with her fist still in the air. Coran groaned, and his knees began to give out; his whole face was covered in bruises.

Keith and Lance jogged to him to get his feet back up.

"See? You got lucky." Coran mumbled.

"Coran, where's Acxa?" Keith asked.

"I don't know. Where am I?" He answered drunklike.

"Are you okay?" Shiro asked concerned.

"Never better." He replied, but his voice said otherwise, "Now let's get our belmards and hayards."

"Don't worry. We got you." Lance reassured him with a smile.

Coran turn his face towards him, "Oh, thank you, Princess Allura."

Lance frowned and said nothing as he and Keith began to lead him into the direction of our weapons.

 _"Taylin, the lions are out of the hangar."_ Storm informed as we ran in the opposite direction of the brig, _"I will try to keep them together, but we have incoming fighters."_

 _"Try the best you can to deal with the fighters."_

 _"You got it."_ I felt how he flapped his wings and took after one of the fighters; growing to his full height.

We reached the room where are Bayards and helmets resided and peaked inside; two Galra pirates were analyzing them and speaking among themselves.

"Our Bayards." Keith whispered.

"They have weapons and we don't. Any suggestions?" Lance asked.

"Unhand those Bayards, you scallywags!" Coran suddenly yelled.

Lance pushed him back and covered his mouth, the others took hold of him to prevent him from rushing into another beat down.

"Now I only see one option." I muttered.

The pirates activated their laser guns and made way towards the exit.

"So much for the element of surprise." Pidge groaned.

Keith closed his eyes in concentration and his Bayard appeared in his hand. He materialized his shield and rushed in taking down the guards swiftly. We all looked at him with shock.

I leaned my body forward until I almost fell inside the room.

"Taylin, lead the way." Keith ordered, "Keep the team together."

The others went inside to grab their gear, but I stopped as Keith pushed passed us, "Keith, where are you going?"

"Acxa saved our skins. I'm not gonna leave her behind. I'll meet up with you guys soon."

"Alright." I breath and went to the table at the end of the room placing my helmet on and taking hold of my Bayard, at my touch it formed into a bow.

"Everyone let's move to the hangar. Storm is already outside the ship with the lions." I commanded.

We ran out of the room with me taking point remembering all the turns that lead us to the main hangar. Soon we were are at the control panel ready to open the bay doors to get outside the ship. I pulled on the handle and the alarms began to blare as the door opened upward.

"Everybody out." I ordered.

I jumped into the cold vacuum of space and saw the lions floating in a half circle. Storm passed by and pushed the Blue Lion back with the rest as it had begun to drift away. With the help of our jetpacks, we zoomed to our perspective lions when suddenly red laser fire flew passed us. We turned around to see five Galra pirates coming after us. I pulled on my bow and shot an energy arrow at the one in between, he went flying back hitting the side of the cruiser. Lance and Pidge also returned fire. Storm came up behind me and lashed out with his tail taking another one out. He took ahold of me and carried me back to my lion. Her eyes glowed amber as we came close and she opened her jaws letting us in. Storm shrunk to my level and we made our way inside the cockpit.

 _"I so glad to be back in White."_ I breathed.

 _"Me too, after what happened, I think I want to stay in here at least until we reach Earth."_

I turned to the side to look at him, his armor had shifted back to reveal his dark blue scales, _"What happened to you?"_

 _"It's really embarrassing, so let's keep it between us."_ He hung his head a bit, _"Let just say I'm never flying underneath the Yellow Lion."_

"Oh." I voiced in understanding.

 _"Anyways, aren't we missing a pilot?"_

 _"Yes, Keith is still inside."_ I answered, _"It appears one of Lotor's generals had a change of heart."_

I moved the White Lion to hover in the middle of the rest, "Keith, do you copy? Are you almost through?"

"Guys! Zero in on my location and fire on the ship." Keith's voice came over the comm.

"Are you positive?" I asked bewildered.

"Just do it!"

I tapped on my screen and scanned for his location until he popped on my screen, "Fire!"

All five lions fired at the same time and hit the hull of the Galra ship blowing up its side. The Black Lion moved to intercept them. Keith appeared from amongst the grey cloud with Acxa in his grasp; the Black Lion opened its jaws and took them into its hold. It turned around and began to fly away from the ship; we trailed close behind it.

We flew for about thirsty doboshes when a warning appeared on my screen signaling the lion was low in power.

"Guys, were going to have to make a stop." I said, "The lions need to try to recharge, we won't get too far on low power."

"Alright, my scanners are picking up a planet nearby, we can stop there." Keith responded.

We banked right and soon a brown and blue planet appeared on our screens. We broke the atmosphere and landed. Nimawe leaned down on all fours and opened her jaws when she suddenly powered off. I sighed and got up to follow the others outside. The planet we had landed on was very similar to the one we left when we started our journey, rocky and deserted. The wind would pass by and pick up small dust storms that swirled by sprinkling our lions.

"We should make camp, who knows how long we will be here." Shiro said.

We nodded and found a cave close to where the lions stood, Lance placed a tarp over the entrance to keep out the dust while Coran placed some wood in the middle to start a fire. Storm moved towards him and breath a smile flame igniting it in orange and blue.

"That's more like it." Coran smiled placing a hand on his hip.

I went to sit down on a nearby rock close to the fire; Shiro right by my side. I rubbed my face tiredly, worrying about our journey which looked to be in jeopardy at the moment. Hunk came back in with more fire wood and his comment only added to my ever-growing stress.

"I just looked at the lions and they're in worse shape than ever."

"We should probably give them some time to recharge before we head back on our way."

"We ourselves need to recharge." I stated, my eyes felt heavy, but I refused to let them close, "I feel like I haven't slept in a decade."

"Wow, a lot of things have really changed over the past few weeks." Lance voiced.

"Weeks?" Acxa said confused, "What are you talking about?"

"The last time we saw you." Allura said, "You were fighting us alongside Lotor."

"That was three deca-phoebs ago." She responded, "No one has seen you since your fight with Lotor."

"That's impossible." Keith said.

"It's true." Acxa said, "After Lotor jettisoned us, we managed to make it to cover on a meteoroid. There we saw both Voltron and Lotor disappear. Eventually Voltron re-emerged… alone. But then there was an explosion, and after that… nothing. That was three deca-phoebs ago."

"Whoa." Lance gasped.

"So, as far as everyone else in the universe is concerned, Voltron has been gone for three deca-phoebs?" Allura stated.

The reality of the situation sunk in and I placed my hand on my forehead trying to process what Acxa has just said; even Hunk dropped the wood he been holding.

"That explains the discrepancies in the star charts in our lions." Pidge voiced, "I thought they were off because of our inter-dimensional jumping which I guess they were in a way because when you think about it, that must have been the cause of the time slippage between our experience and that of the rest of the universe."

"So how did you end up here, helping us?" Keith asked turning his gaze towards the Galran.

"Zethrid, Ezor, and I were marooned on the meteoroid for days." Acxa began, "Finally, a Galra ship came to investigate Lotor's last know whereabouts. We took it over. With Lotor gone, it was clear that there was a power vacuum in the Galra Empire. Zethrid and Ezor wanted to exploit that for their own gain… but I knew I had to find my own path. And it led me to you."

"Thank you… for saving us." Keith said.

Acxa smiled, "I hope that this makes up, in a way, for the wrong I've done. I realize now that Lotor wasn't the man I thought he was. He preached unity, but in the end, he sought only power."

"I understand how you feel." Allura stated, "I fell for Lotor's lies as well."

"I'll do everything I can out here to help the Voltron Coalition." Acxa spoke up with determination.

"Wow, so everyone that was helping us think we're dead." Hunk said sadly.

"Wait." Pidge stopped him from continuing, "I haven't been able to get ahold of my dad on Earth or Matt and the Rebels. What's happened to them in the last three years?"

"And if Ezor and Zethrid became warlords in that time…" Allura said, "What else has changed?"

Everyone stayed quite after her comment, thinking of the three years we had lost. It had been like sleeping ten thousand years all over again. Not knowing what went around you during a big period of time was disconcerting, but I was not about to give up. We needed to make it to Earth and keep fighting for our main objective; to free the universe from tyranny.

"Everyone might think were dead, but we are all here alive and breathing." I said gaining the other's attention, "Our enemies believe us to be vanquished, but let us rise from the ashes to keep fighting. This war is not over yet, it has only just begun."

* * *

Hello, here is another chapter I hoped u enjoyed!


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50**

 **The Feud**

It took a whole orbital cycle for the lions to have enough power to take off again and set out on our journey to Earth, though they did have a little help. When everyone was asleep by the fire, Coran and Storm had started, I woke up in the middle of the night removing Shiro's arm from my waist carefully. I stood up with the utmost caution stepping over the sleeping bodies, but I didn't go unnoticed, Storm opened one of his azure eyes watching me attentively.

 _"Where do you think you're going?"_ He asked making me jump a little.

I turned around to gaze at him, the fire reflected off his deep blue scales making them sparkle, _"I'm going to head out a bit, I'll be back."_

 _"It's not safe to wonder on a planet we know very little about, I will come with you."_

I was going to protest but decided against it since I knew how stubborn he could be. I sighed and motioned with my head for him to follow me. He stood up, rising his tail from the ground to prevent it from scraping on the floor or hitting one of the sleeping forms. Together we tip toed out of the cave and exited to the darkness of the desert planet. The stars shown vibrantly almost covering the whole night sky; a shooting star passed by swiftly. The lions still stood offline sitting or lying on their sides. It was almost heart breaking to see them in this state. I was used to seeing the White Lion waiting for me in her hangar looking magnificently, but now she stood hunched over on all fours as if something was paining her.

 _"We have to do something for them, it could take days before they have enough energy to even lift themselves."_

 _"What do you suggest we do?"_

I thought for a moment, rubbing my left arm until I had an idea, " _Maybe we can provide the energy."_

 _"But it would be too much for you."_ Storm interjected, _"You said so yourself."_

 _"Yes, all at once but remember that the lions have all crystal hearts because they use to by Drakos once upon a time."_

 _"You want to call on their elemental energies?"_

I nodded my head.

Storm sighed, _"It could work, and I can aid you by lending you my strength."_

 _"We might not need to drain ourselves of our energy, rather we can call on the element and have them provide it for us. I have experience it before when I was with Keith coming back to the Castle. The power I was channeling all came from the elements, I was just the anchor controlling them."_

 _"What about the limit?"_

 _"One thing I learned is that the limit of the power channeled is restricted by our own minds. If you are scared to go past your supposed limit, you will end up killing yourself. You must think bigger. Let go of the fear and you will unlock your full potential."_

 _"Did you learn this on Oriande?"_

 _"No, I learned this from Father."_ I gazed up at him and saw a flash of confusion in his eyes, Storm cocked his head in wonder signaling me to explain. _"When I was at the brink of falling to my doom, I called out to the ancients to help me but who answered the call was... Father. He taught me to stop being afraid of my powers and let them flow through me without hesitation. In the end his advice was the one that helped me save Keith and Shiro."_

 _"Your father was always the one to tell you to be cautious, I wonder what made him change his mind?"_

 _"Being in the elemental realm gives you a feeling of... invincibility. Like nothing can touch you. It sort of like looking down from the heavens at the universe beneath your feet. It's laid out as a map."_

 _"Must have been fascinating to lay eyes upon."_

I nodded my head, _"Now let's get to work, we have a lot to accomplish before the others wake up."_

Storm agreed, and we made our way to the closes lion; the Yellow Lion laid on its side and its head rested on the ground looking defeated.

 _"Are we going to do this one by one."_ Storm whined, _"That's going to take forever."_

I scratched my head in thought for a few ticks until I got an idea, _"Perhaps not."_ I moved to sit in the middle of all of the lions and crossed my legs, resting my hands on my knees. I felt how Storm observed me, but did not comment on my actions, rather he took a stance behind me. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes in concentration, letting my body relax to clear my head. I could feel my heart pumping blood in my veins and soon the elements surrounding us made themselves noticed.

Storm mended his strength with mine, but thoughts of perplexity flooded his head, _"How do I help you?"_

 _"Clear your mind and see beyond what's in front of you."_

He pushed all thoughts aside, but he still felt hesitant. Storm trekked in unfamiliar territory, exploring other elements was something he never done before. All the manipulation of them always came through me and he only provided the extra energy that I needed to continue on with a task, but not this time. I allowed him to feel every element around us, to feel the life forces of the lions and when we opened our eyes it was like the whole world had ignited in vibrant colors. The spirit of the lions emerged from their metal bodies and rouse up to their full heights. I stood up with a wide smile upon my face as the Black Lion came forth and gave a small growl as a greeting. I bowed my head a bit in acknowledgement.

 _"Mighty Lions of Voltron take your strength from me. Fill yourself with the energy you need to help us continue on our journey through the immensity of this universe. We cannot do this without you."_

The lions roared in unison and six different orbs manifested in each of the color of their element. White beams fell from the heavens and connected to them flashing their light at the lions. The energy they tapped into was enormous, and all the power flowed through me once again like an anchor. Storm was there with me in awe at what was occurring.

I looked up and saw the universe spin in a spiral faster and faster until the stars that shined inside of it became blurs. I felt so small compared to the enormity of the heavens; I was a mare speck of dust amongst all the celestial bodies. Even through the rapidness of its movements, each body was unique. Not one mirrored the other. It made me realize that each and every one out there in the countless galaxies that existed, was different and unique. I finally understood the need for every Paladin to be distinctive. Each one of us brought our spirit, heart, and body to the unity that represented Voltron. It suddenly did not matter everything we had lost, because it had always been there, we had just been too blind to see it. Everything that ever was lived inside the universe's heart. I no longer felt so alone, the lives that had been lost thrived.

Tears just began to trail down my face at the remembrance of the people who gave their life in this war. It captivated every fiber of my being and a strong will to keep striving for peace filled my heart. If only those who sought to destroy could see this, maybe it would change their perspective. No more flames needed to be extinguished, no matter what race they were from.

I caught glimpses of my past, the loving faces of my parents, people who fought valiantly beside me: Varek, Nisa, Sapphire, and Marel. They all looked down at me with smiles, the look in their eyes all said the same thing; they counted on me to make things right.

 _"I will make your sacrifice be remembered throughout time, I promise."_

I gazed away from the sky and noticed all the lions looking at me attentively, _"Shadow, Azure, Meeker, Dracosvane, Brisinhar, and Nimawe, thank you for reminding me what I'm fighting for."_ The White Lion let out a low growl in response and came forth lowering her head to my level. I reached out with my right hand and placed it on her snout. The moment I made contact a white light engulfed us and in an instant it vanished. When I reopened my eyes, the lions all sat on their hind legs looking ready to take flight.

"What did you do?" Lance asked from behind us.

I turned around and everyone was by the entrance of the shelter with their jaws hanging open.

I chuckled, "I didn't do anything, it was all them."

"It looks like the lions have been charged up." Hunk said, "I think we might be ready to set out."

"Then what are we waiting for, let's go." Pidge said excited to get back on the road again.

I grinned and ran back to our temporary shelter to grab my sleeping accommodations and took them back to my lion's cargo hold. I was so glad to be able to leave this planet behind and being one step closer to arriving to Earth. I wanted to see the blue skies once again and fascinate upon the different species that resided on it. Shiro gave me a wide smile when he noticed my glimmering eyes.

"What's gotten into you?" Shiro asked with a laugh; he placed his arm over my shoulder.

"I'm just glad to be on the move again, I really want to arrive at our destination."

"I promise you when we find some free time on Earth, I'll show you all the amazing places it has to offer."

I smiled up at him and placed a hand on the symbol of his chest, "I'm going to hold you accountable for that."

Shiro laughed and said nothing more, he kissed the top of my head and headed for the Black Lion. Acxa said her fair wells, promising to keeping fighting for our cause. I held recent in the beginning for aiding Lotor in his conquest for power, but this time I believed her. It was time to start giving people second chances. She had seen the truth and sought out to change on her own, there was no greater proof of her redemption than that.

Everyone was packed and ready to launch; we followed after the Black Lion leaving the dusty planet behind. Storm took his usual spot beside my seat getting comfortable for the long ride. After a few vargas Lance got bored and began to make small talk with the others but soon their voices began to fade away, I started to dose off. It was becoming difficult to keep my eyes open, so I leaned my head on the back of my chair and let sleep over take me. My mind felt at peace and my body soon followed relaxing on my pilot chair.

My nap felt like a blink on an eye because suddenly I decided to check on my control panel but what I saw was not what I was expecting, I wasn't even sitting down anymore. I stood in the middle of Pidge and Keith in a line with the other Paladins. I looked around shocked only moving my eyes trying to remember how we had gotten here.

"What is this place?" Allura asked confused.

"Looks like some kind of game show." Hunk said.

"I swear I was taking a nap in the cockpit." I stated lowly.

"What's happening?" Keith asked.

"I don't know." Pidge responded, "That last thing I remember, we were all flying in our lions."

A green wide-eyed looking alien wearing a brown outfit with dark leather boots rushed to us on a round hover seat pointing a microphone in Keith's face. I backed up a bit frightened and held on to Keith's arm.

"Hi, there. Tell us your name and where you're from." The alien asked with a wide grin.

"What is this?" Keith stuttered.

The alien turned to look forward with his four arms outstretched, "Oh-uh. Looks like somebody wasn't listening to Norlox."

People suddenly began to laugh but I could not locate where they were. At the far-right corner of the stage stood a blue tall alien who I assumed was Norlox. He turned his face to the side indignantly pulling at the red bow around his neck. He had brown hair and a comb stuck out of it at the top.

"Tell him what this is, everybody."

The audience complied shouting out the name of the show loudly, "Garfle Warfle Snick!"

"That's right, the name of the game is Garfle Warfle Snick." He spun around in his hover chair and turned around once again to shove his microphone into Keith's face. "Now tell us your name, son."

"My name is Keith." He responded, "How did we get here?"

"I'll tell you how Norlox got to be on the show." Bob turned to face the audience placing his hand to the side of his face like if he was telling us a secret, "His uncle owns the studio." Bob and the audience laughed mockingly while Norlox glared back angrily. "All right, Keith, why don't you introduce us to the rest of your team?"

"We're the Paladins of Voltron." Keith stated, "This is Allura, Hunk, Lance, Pidge, and Taylin. But you haven't answered my question. How did we get here?"

"I hope not the same way I got here." Bob dodged the question again, "A moofglider was jackknifed on the Haldar Expressway and it took forever to get past it. I still smell like moof." His hover chair spun until it was upside down, he leaned the opposite direction to get it back into its normal position. The audience reacted disgusted at his story. "Okay, Keith, I'm sure you know how to play our game." Bob propped until his head rested on Keith's podium, Keith looked down at him a bit scared. "All you've gotta do is accumulate quaz-cenbullion credits, and you win. Of course, if you don't, you'll hear this sound." A sad trumpet filled the room on his cue and the audience awed. "And that means you're trapped here in our studio for the rest of eternity."

"Wait, wait, wait, say that again!" I said shocked.

"Did you say we'll be trapped here for the rest of eternity?" Pidge asked outraged.

"Oh-uh. Is there an echo in here?" Bob retorted, "Echo in here?"

"I don't know who you are or what's going on, but we're getting out of here." Keith seethed.

"Oh, I don't think so." Bob laughed; he snapped his fingers and small round platforms appeared underneath our feet covering up to our calves. I tried to lift my foot, but it would not budge.

"What is this?" I asked angrily, "How dare you trap us here."

"Sk, sk, this is a place to have fun not to get mad." Bob taunted; I balled my hands to my sides and growled.

"My feet are stuck." Lance stated.

"Mine, too." Pidge added.

"See, all of you are guests on my show and you will play my game as long as I want you to." Bob stated evilly, his voice became distorted at the end causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end. I stopped fiddling with my feet restrain and stood tall as a stick. "Understand?" He asked back in his cheerful voice.

We nodded our heads rapidly in agreement.

"Great! Let's start with our first Warfler." He continued, "Tell us what it is, Norlox."

"The first warfler is… Pictation!" Norlox read from a piece of paper.

The audience cheered, and a screen was lowered down at the back of the stage behind Bob.

Keith suddenly left my side hovering over the ground, I tried to reach out for him but failed to even touch his arm.

"Come on over here, Keith." Bob said, "Pictation, the drawing game. Now, Keith, the answers will pop up on your screen where your team can't see them. It's up to you to draw the people and places you've seen during your adventures as a Paladin of Voltron while your team tries to guess the answers." A pen appeared out of thin air in a small cloud and Keith took it without complaint. "Are you a good artist, Keith?"

"I, uh…" Keith began but Bob cut him off.

"Well, I hope you're a better drawer than a talker, huh?" He lifted one of his right hands and a blue pacifier appeared in Keith's mouth; his hair was placed in an up do, a baby sound followed with the audience laughing at his predicament. I had to admit it was funny seeing Keith in that state. He looked so unhappy almost like his personal space had been violated. "Let's put blaze hoochas on the board. And… go!" The ringing sound marked the start of the game.

Keith began to draw on the podium, everything he placed on there appeared on the screen behind him. He drew a strange looking rectangle with lines sticking out form its sides.

"It's a rock! Balmera!" Hunk shouted out.

"Olkari cube!" Pidge guessed.

"An Olkari!" I added.

"It's a chicken!" Lance yelled.

"When did we see a chicken in outer space?" Pidge interjected.

"I don't know." Lance retaliated, "It's not my fault Keith can't draw."

Keith had placed eyes, ears, an arm, and was in the process of drawing a second leg.

"Is it a Galra?" I voiced unsure.

"Rooster! A chicken hawk." Lance continued, "A chicken with a beard!"

"It's an Arusian!" Allura exclaimed raising her right arm.

"Correct!" Bob said.

"Oh, I see it now." I said lowly scratching my head.

The screen beeped starting the second round.

Keith looked down at the answer and began to draw, his eyebrows scrunched together in concentration. He drew a line and another one under it connecting them with a belly underneath. He then proceeded to draw a hilt with an oval where the two pieces connected.

"What is that, chopsticks?" Lance asked.

Keith leaned forward closing his eyes in irritation at Lance's absurd answers and crushed his pen into two.

"It's something from space, Lance." Hunk reminded.

"Space chopsticks?" Lance said.

"Oh, gosh no." I placed my hand on my forehead at Lance's ridiculous answer. What in the universe was space chopsticks? "Be quite Lance, it's a sword." Keith looked up and signaled with his hand to continue. "A knife?" He nodded his head and pointed to himself, "Oh, um, Blade of Marmora!"

"Right again!" Bob exclaimed.

I cheered.

The beeping sounded again, and another pen appeared in Keith's grasp; he looked down at it surprised. He immediately started to draw when the ticker sounded. Keith drew two circles together with ears and what looked like a snout; it appeared to be a mutt of some sort, but I could not place it.

"Dog! It's a dog!" Lance yelled out having the same thought.

"Storm? Is it Storm?" I asked, but Keith shook his head in disagreement.

"It's a lion." Hunk stated.

Keith rouse his head and nodded up and down rapidly and turned his profile towards us.

"Black Lion, Blue Lion, Yellow Lion, White Lion, Red Lion." Hunk began to name until he got it right.

"Red Lion is correct!" Bob cheered flying vertically in front of the camera.

"Yeah!" Hunk celebrated taking hold of Allura and jumping up and down.

"Way to go Hunk!"

The display beeped gaining our attention back to the main screen. Keith drew out a half oval with another smaller one inside of it.

"Pepperoni. An alligator!" Lance exclaimed without a second thought, "A cave, a windy cave!"

"How is that a windy cave!" I yelled back.

"Oh, no, no, no. What is that thing called? It's a thermos!"

Allura finally had enough and slammed her hands on the podium, "Lance, would you stop talking!"

The buzzer went off ending the game.

"Oh! Time's Up." Bob informed.

The hover plate carried a defeated Keith back to his place next to me.

"What? No way that was blazzle boochas." Lance seethed.

"Looks like our other team is gonna have the opportunity to steal." Bob announced.

"What other team?" Hunk asked confused.

The insignia of the Galra appeared on the screen behind the empty podiums and flat figures of Zarkon, Haggar, Lotor, and commander Morvok rouse up from behind. They suddenly came to life in a puff of smoke. We looked at them in shock, I had to double take and rub my eyes to make sure I was seeing properly.

"Zarkon? No way!" Lance stated.

"This can't be happening." Hunk added.

"How are they here? It is possible for them to be here? How is Zarkon alive?" I rambled looking between the other Paladins and the foes before us.

"Hello there." Bob greeted them coming to hover in front of Zarkon; I was honestly a bit scared for him, Zarkon was not an easy-going person.

"Hello, Bob." Zarkon responded in a kind manner proving me wrong.

"Why don't you introduce yourself to the audience and tell us who these wonderful people are with you?"

"Wonderful doesn't even begin to describe them." I muttered crossing my arms and glaring across the room.

"I'm Zarkon. This is my lovely wife Haggar."

"Hello." She said in her raspy voice.

"Hubba Hubba." Bob fanned over her, I scoffed.

"My son Lotor." He grunted and turned his head to the side in defiance at the sound of his name, "And one of my insignificant underlings, Morvok."

Morvok on the other hand looked excited to be here, he clasped his hands together and smiled, "I am such a big fan of the show. I can't believe we're here!"

"Well, welcome, welcome." Bob responded with the same enthusiasm, "It's good to have you all on with us, especially this lovely. hmm? Mm-hmm, mm-hm." He got close to the witch and winked at her; I heard Pidge groan beside me. The audience "ooh" at Bob's behavior.

"Watch it, now." Zarkon warned with a chuckle.

"All right, Zarkon, have you been watching backstage?" Bob asked backing away from her.

"Yes, I have."

"The Paladins of Voltron have scored three correct answers, but now you and your team have the opportunity to steal all of their points if you can correctly identify what ol' Keith was doodling on there."

Zarkon placed his hand under his chin and hummed, "Well, I'd rather steal their lions than their points."

"Yeah, I bet you would." Bob butted in.

"Uh, why are they acting like that?" Hunk asked.

"It doesn't matter." Allura said sternly, "There's no way we're going to lose to the Galra."

Zarkon chuckled at her statement and placed his hands on his waist, "But seriously, I think I can guess this. You might not like the answer." He placed a hand on Haggar's shoulder.

"Uh-oh. Don't wanna stir up any trouble with the missus." Bob said with a grin.

"She doesn't look like that drawing, but I'm pretty sure the answer he was going for was..."

"Fingers crossed." Bob crossed his two sets of fingers.

"Is it Haggar?"

"That is correct!" Bob exclaimed, "The answer is Haggar."

The audience cheered while Zarkon's team celebrated except for the witch.

"This is really bizarre." Hunk pointed out.

"Windy cave?" Keith remarked.

"Hey! I'm not a mind reader." Lance shot back.

I huffed and slumped my shoulders, "We are so toast."

"So, Zarkon, you have garfled the first warfler." Bob said, "That puts you in control of the board. Do you wanna play or pass?"

"Play!" Lotor exclaimed menacingly and glared at us, "I spent centuries perfecting my exquisite, lifelike renderings. Not that you cared." He said to Haggar and turned away.

"I treasure your art." Haggar said soothingly and touched his arm.

"Don't touch me, you filthy hag!" Lotor pulled his arm away.

"Don't speak to her that way, you insolent whelp." Zarkon scolded.

Lotor turned his head away again like a child and suddenly slapped Morvok, taking out his anger on him.

"I did nothing!" Marvok retaliated rubbing his cheek.

"Family, am I right?" Bob said into the camera pointing his thumb at the Galra.

"They are quite a handful." Zarkon said with a smile.

"So, what's it gonna be, Z?" Bob asked like they were longtime friends.

"Well, I've always said that the best offense is a good defense." He answered.

Bob placed his fist under his chin in thought, "Sounds like you're gonna pass."

"I am. And I think I'd also like to play this." He lifted up a card with a four petaled green flower; the audience oohed.

"Uh-oh." Bob voiced, "The solo card!" A picture of the card was projected on the main screen with flashing lights. "That means one of these Paladins is gonna have to take the next warfler alone. The question is, Zarkon, which one is it gonna be?"

Zarkon rubbed his chin in thought, "Well, I think there's really no choice here. I'm going with the dumb one!" His eyes widened and pointed his metallic finger at Lance.

Lance looked dumfounded and turned to look at us, "Who's he talking about?"

"It's time for a word from our sponsors." Bob said to the audience, "But when we get back, Lance will be starting the next warfler all by his lonesome. Stick around."

No one said anything and continued to stare at our greatest enemies.

"Wait, I'm the dumb one?" Lance stated in realization.

"All right, things might look bad but let have a bit of faith." I said, "We are not about to lose to our arch enemies no matter how strange this all might seem."

Lance hung his head and whined when the floating platform took him to stand in the middle of the room next to Bob. The music came back on signaling the recommencement of the game.

"Right before the break, Zarkon's team decided to make one of the Paladins of Voltron play solo the next round, and the Paladin he chose was the dumb one, Lance." Bob recapped to the audience; he motioned to Lance who frowned and crossed his arms. "Hey, Lance, how's it going?"

"Well, you know what, I'm not too happy about being referred to as "the dumb one," like eight-teen times."

"Oh, it was only about four times, you big dum-dum." A sad trombone played, the audience laughed at Lance; I felt bad for my fellow Paladin, Bob was being really unfair with him. "But now you've got a chance to change all that and show everyone how smart you really are. Are you ready for that?"

"Absolutely." Lance stated with determination.

"Okay! Let's give Lance a big round of applause!" The audience applauded on cue, "He is a great sport. Now, Norlox, tell Lance what the next warfler is."

"The next warfler is faces from the past!" Norlox announced.

"A little walk down memory lane." Bob added, "Lance, you know how this game goes, am I right?"

"Yeah! Totally." Lance answered with a grunt, but he seemed unsure.

"What do you think, audience?" Bob asked getting into Lance's personal space, "Do we believe this beautiful dum-dum?"

The audience once again laughed and yelled out "No".

"I know you're telling the truth, Lance, but just for the folks at home, lets run through the rules real quick. Now, you're gonna see pictures of some of the folks you've met on your adventures around the galaxy. All you have to do is tell us their names. I'll give you a goolian credits for each one you name correctly adding to the points you'll need to earn your freedom. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like we're going to be getting back to Voltron pretty soon." Lance smirked cockily.

"That's the spirit!" Bob exclaimed, "But just to make sure you don't get any help from your friends, let's lower the isolation shield." A long transparent tube suddenly came down from the ceiling engulfing Lance inside. "Perfect. Now let's see our first mystery face from the past." Pictures of people we've met flipped rapidly on the main screen with a loud beeping sound. It began to slow down stopping on Kolivan for a tick but changing immediately to another Marmoran in full attire.

"Easy. That's Koli— What? Who's that?" Lance said.

I smacked my mouth shut, there was no way he was going to be able to guess who that was especially when they had their face hidden underneath the mask, not even I knew who it was.

"He's an important figure." Bob told him, "Someone who helped you in your fight against Zarkon."

A named popped in my head and I held my head with both hands remembering. Keith took out his Marmoran knife and pointed to it while Pidge just slumped on her podium losing all faith in Lance.

"Hmm. Keith keeps pointing at his blade, so…" Lance began.

"Oh. That's a pretty big clue." Bob mentioned, "Have you got a guess?"

Lance kept starting at the picture with sweat trickling down the side of his face. He closed his eyes for a brief moment in thought and then turned to look at Bob with a serious face, "Blade-y. Bladey?"

The buzzer blared starling him.

I huffed in defeat and hung my head.

"Oh! The answer is Antok."

"Yes!" Zarkon cheered.

"Oh, yeah, that guy." Lance muttered.

"Kolivan's right-hand man who fought valiantly for the good of the universe." Bob voiced to the audience. "This next one is a little more personal. I think you'll remember this gal." The screen scrolled through familiar faces rapidly until it stopped on Nyma the yellow skinned alien who we met on the stranded moon alongside Rolo, but poor Lance was tricked again switching from a mermaid he knew to a bugged eye looking alien.

"Ooh! Her? Yeah, that's Plax— Her? Uh, she was the serious one?"

"That's right. What was her name?" Bob asked.

"Uh… oh! Hold on. Okay, I know this." We looked at him with hope. "She was the one who measured my head for the jellyfish hat. She rode on a giant manta ray."

"We need an answer." Bob pushed.

"Ah… mm." Lance rambled, "Wait, was it Jelly? No, no! Shelly!"

The buzzer went off signaling he had gotten her name wrong, I huffed, "This is hopeless."

"Her name is Swirn." Bob said.

"Swirn? Huh." Lance chuckled nervously, "Never would've come up with that."

"Go Galra! Go Galra! Go Galra!" Lotor and Morvok chanted doing some odd dance, even Zarkon joined moving his arms side to side.

"Your team is starting to lose faith in you, Lance." Bob pointed out.

"I'm just not real good with name." Lance muttered, "I'll get the next one."

"It's a wonder he remembers ours." Pidge stated leaning on the podium.

"I hope so. Let's see the next face from your past." The screen flickers through the pictures and it landed on Rolo.

"Quiznak! Can you guys stop changing it at the last second?" Lance ranted, "Hmm."

"Oh, come on Lance, you have to know this one." I said with my hands together, praying he would recall.

"This guy, this guy…"

"You remember." Bob tried to encourage.

"He faked the distress signal." Lance said.

"He stole the Blue Lion." Bob added.

"That, too."

"What's his name?" Bob asked.

Lance grunted loudly, "Okay. It's on the tip on my tongue."

"Traveled with Nyma and Beezer." Bob hinted.

"Yeah. Pidge loved that robot." He inhaled deeply.

We tried to do Rolo's name with are arms, but Lance still could not remember, it was pointless. We were all going to become permanent contestants of this show.

"Nope. I got nothing."

The buzzer went off and we growled in unison.

"Rolo!" Bob exclaimed at the same time Lance finally remember, but it was already too late. "You are terrible at this."

"To be fair, we've met a lot of people." Lance interjected.

"Well, this is the last face, Lance. If you finish without a single correct answer, you know what that means."

"No. What?"

The audience laughed and started chanting, "Snick!"

"I can't hear what they're saying. Is it Snick?"

"That's right!" Bob confirmed, "Miss this next question, and I will be forced to hit this button, which will shoot you out of the studio and into the lair of the Snick." A red button materialized on his hover chair. "Show us the Snick, Norlox."

The screen changed and in it appeared a horrendous blue insect like looking monster with four long pointed legs and razor-sharp teeth. It roared at the camera and the audience cheered. I could not understand how people would feel excitement to see someone thrown in with a beast like that; I suddenly felt a pang of fear for Lance.

Lance backed up into the wall of the translucent tube and screamed while Bob chuckled at his reaction, "Ooh! He looks hungry."

"What? Nobody said anything about the Snick!" Lance yelled.

"Well, it's in the tittle of the show." Bob responded calmly, "Garfle Warfle Snick!"

"I wasn't listening to that! You know I'm the dumb one!"

"Well, here's your last face, dum-dum. Look carefully."

The audience cheered agitating Lance, "Quiet! I need to concentrate!"

The monitor beeped flipping through the pictures for the last time until it slowed down on the face of our closes Olkari friend making Lance whimper because he knew that the screen always changed at the last tick.

"It's Bii-Boh-Bi! Bii-Boh-Bi!" Lance exclaimed frantically.

A jingled sounded marking his answer as correct; we gave a sigh of relief that he would not get thrown in with the Snick.

"That's right! You are not gonna get fed to the Snick." Bob said; the audience booed clearly wanting to see carnage, "They are savages. Well, sorry, Zarkon. Looks like you're going home."

"It was just fun being on the show." Marvok stated with a wide smile.

"Shut up." Haggar growled pointing a finger at him.

A hole suddenly opened underneath them, and they fell in with their podiums. Just like that they were gone, if only it could have been that simple to defeat them.

"And now, since he's the only person in the galaxy Lance can remember, let's bring him out! Ladies and gentlemen, star of the stick-com, Bii-Boh Me, the one and only Bii-Boh-Bi!"

Bii-Boh-Bi came out from the side of the stage to stand next to Bob in his usual fancy attire. He waved at the audience with a smile.

"Bii-Boh, welcome back to the show." Bob greeted, "Seems like you've been pretty busy since we saw you last."

Bii-Boh responded in his strange language, talking about the things he had been doing; I honestly never understood what he said but whatever he mentioned made Bob brake out in a fit of laughter. Lance laughed with his hands placed on his waist like he had understood.

"Okay, Bii. You're an old pro at this, so maybe you can help this dum-dum out." Bob said.

Bii-Boh seemed to agree.

"Norlox, what is our next warfler?"

"It's the Garflater!" He read dramatically from his paper.

The audience cheered, "All right, now, as everyone knows, the Garflater is worth vezcenbullion credits. So, Lance, this could get you and your friends well on your way to freedom."

"He better not screw this up." Keith said under his breath.

"Let's do this!" Lance stated with determination.

"Of course, if you don't answer five questions correctly, you'll end up in the Garflator where you'll be slowly cooked alive." Bob pointed at a tank on the other side of the studio which bubbled and sizzled with a green goo.

"What? Come on!" Lance whined.

"Let's put blaze hoochas on the board." Bob ordered, the monitor beeped to life behind us, "Bii-Boh-Bi, you're giving the clues, and remember not to say the word."

Bii-Boh acknowledged and mentioned to Bob to proceed with the game.

"Start the Garflator!"

A long worm began to gulp down on the tube that held Lance. It had sharp teeth all around its mouth. I honestly was not surprised, Bob seemed like he wanted to end us one way or another, specially Lance.

The game started and Bii-Boh began to describe the word on the monitor by squishing his cheeks together.

"Um… I have no idea what's happening right now." Lance stated clueless.

Bii-Boh encouraged him to at least try by waving his hands and saying something incoherent.

"Bii?" Lance guessed.

"Correct!" Bob stated.

My jaw dropped when he actually managed to get an answer.

Bii-Boh continued to describe the next word.

"Bii?" Lance said unsure.

Bii-Boh dragged on the word letting him know he was on the right track.

"Bii-boh?"

He grunted and pointed rapidly at the ground.

"Bii-bii?"

"That's two!" Bob mentioned.

We began to cheer, there was finally some hope in the horizon. I grabbed on to Keith's and Pidge's arms and tried to jump up and down in excitement. Lance continued to concentrate on the next question, "Bii."

"Two more to go!" Bob announced.

Bii-Boh moved on but the buzzer sounded when he accidentally said the word.

"You can't say the word." Bob reminded him.

"Boh-boh, bii-bii-boh, boh-bii-boh." Lance said randomly.

The jingle played marking his answer correct.

"Final clue." Bob informed, "Running out of time!"

The Warflor kept on swallowing the tube, Lance looked up frightened.

"Bii-boh-bii-bii?" Lance guessed.

Bii-Boh pointed to his face, he was starting to get irritated at Lance's wrong answers.

Lance just threw out words frantically when suddenly the buzzer sounded and screamed as the Warfler chomped down on the rest of the tube.

"Oh! So close."

I froze in place watching as the giant worm sucked up Lance and threw him in the tank.

"The answer was Bi."

"I said that!" Lance yelled.

Bob ignored him, "Give it up for Bii-Boh-Bi, everyone!"

Bii-Boh waved goodbye and walked off the stage.

"When we come back from the break, we'll see if Lance's fellow Paladins can get him out of the Warflator before he gets turned into hot pudding… right after this."

"Um, we need to figure out a way to get Lance out of there and get ourselves away from here." I said lowly.

"How do we suppose we do that?" Pidge asked in the same manner.

"Yeah, we can't exactly run away." Hunk pointed out looking down at our feet restraints.

"We just have to wait and see." I responded, "When the opportunity presents itself then we act, but for now, we continue playing his game. One way or another, we are going to get back to our lions."

They nodded in agreement.

The audience began to applaud, and Bob continued with the show, "Welcome back, everybody. The Paladins of Voltron are trying to win their way off the show, but they just lost one of their team mates to the Warflator. How's it going over there, Lance?"

Lance was leaning back with his hands resting behind his head, "Actually, this feels great. The goo is nice and warm, and it feels like it's exfoliating me."

"Well, eventually, it'll eat through your skin. But let's see if one of your friends can help you out." Bob came over and leaned towards Allura, "Well, hello, Princess."

"What are we doing here Bob?" She asked.

"We're playing the game." He responded in his most chirpy voice.

"Please let us go." She pleaded, "The universe needs Voltron."

"Well, then the Paladins of Voltron are just gonna have to get serious about winning this game." Bob said hovering away from her towards the tank, he turned around and pointing at us, "Now, which one of you do you want to play to free Lance, huh? Who's the brainiest of the team?"

We all exclaimed "Pidge" and pointed at her; she raised her hand sure of herself.

"All right, little fellow, step on out here." She flew to the center of the stage grunting at how fast the plate moved.

"Norlox, tell us what the next warfler is."

"It's Bankchannel!" He announced.

The lights went off and a spotlight shined down on a small game with different color waves that resembled an ocean.

"Hey, miniature golf!" Pidge stated.

"Miniature what?" Bob asked confused.

"This game, it's… Never mind." Pidge gave up at explaining.

"All right, let me show you how to play here." Bob moved on, he picked up a mental stick that leaned against one of the waves, "All you have to do is hit the sphere through the backchannel into the tunnel." He swung the stick hitting a small white ball that bounced throughout the play area, hitting the back board and falling into a hole. "Think you can do that?" He asked handing the stick to Pidge.

"I think I can handle it." She responded.

She was about to hit it but changed her mind and began to analyze the possible trajectory of the ball by bending down and placing her metal stick on the ground to measure the distance.

"Oh, very serious." Bob pointed out.

Pidge leaned back on her knees and turned to look at us, I nodded my head at her. This was the opportunity we had been looking for, if she managed to somehow knock out Bob, we could be free of the game show, Pidge was smart enough to figure it out. She blinked at me a couple of time and gave me a small nod.

"The hole is over there." Bob mentioned making her break eye contact with me.

Pidge got back up and got ready to swing, she flung the ball towards the camera which bounced back and hit Bob making him lose control of his hover chair. He crashed on the ground and Pidge quickly jump on him, "Let us go now!"

An alarm blared in our ears and the room flashed red, Bob began to glow and suddenly everything was back into place like the confrontation never happened.

"It looks like the Paladins have just made it into the final round!" He announced.

I opened my mouth trying to find the right words but the only thing that came out was a very confused "How?"

"What the…" Pidge trailed off; I looked to my right and noticed Lance was back in line.

"Okay, I know I've said this before many times, but this is the freakiest thing I've ever seen." Hunk said.

Bob hovered towards us, "One of you will now be allowed to leave the game. The rest of you will be staying here with me forever."

"No way!" I blurted out.

"That just how the game works." Bob stated cheerfully and went back to the center of the studio.

"You have blaze hoochas to write down your choice for who should get to escape on the screen in front of you. Go!"

On cue green barriers appeared between us and a pen materialized in my hand. I looked down at the screen on the podium in thought. All the Paladins were important to me, they had become the closes thing to a family. Keith could be stubborn and reckless sometimes, but he had grown as a leader. He came back to save us from Lotor and stuck by my side when I needed him the most; he had even defended me against Shiro when he was controlled by the witch and for that I would be forever grateful. For Pidge, I would always have a soft spot. Most of the time I felt like it was my duty to protect her and it enraged me when she was put in danger; I would put my own safety on the line for her. Lance had also grown as a Paladin, he had been chosen by the most temperamental of the lions. I knew he was destined for greatness and even though I did not show it often, but his smiles always brought a type of comfort to my heart. Hunk would always be the most thoughtful and sensitive of the team but that is what made him an amazing person and a great Paladin. He had overcome so many fears for the sake of protecting the innocent, I could not be prouder. And lastly Allura, she by far was the most important person to me. She had been with me since childhood and I would forever consider her my sister.

My mind was plagued by so many thoughts, I wanted to free them all, but Bob would never allow it. Somehow, he had managed to trap us here and dampen my powers. I had been trying to access them since we woke up here but my link to them seemed distant which was strange since I had an encounter with them not too long ago.

"Final hoochas." Bob informed, "Make your selections, everyone."

I sighed and began to write the name of the person I chose with a heavy heart.

"Hunk let's start with you. Who'd you vote for?"

"Uh well, Bob, I voted for Allura." Hunk answered, "I figured she's the Princess, and she's such a natural leader, you know. The universe needs her more than it needs the rest of us, plain and simple."

"Aw. Thank you, Hunk." Allura said gratefully.

"Allura, who did you vote for?" Bob asked.

"I select Pidge." She said, "She and her family have the best chance of rebuilding what my father started."

"Interesting." Bob rubbed his chin, "Lance, who got your vote?"

"I voted for Taylin." He stated, I turned to look at him surprised, "She has led us through some rough moments and she has these awesome powers."

I smiled at him and he gave me a thumbs up.

"Taylin, who did you decide to free?"

"I picked Keith." I said, "He has proven to be a great leader, I know he will find a way to unite enough people to fight for the cause."

Keith looked a bit flabbergasted that I had picked him and even let his arms fall to his sides, but when Bob called on him, he went back to his signature pose with his arms crossed and a scowl.

"Keith, the leader, who do you think deserves to make it out of here, huh?"

The image appeared on the podium screen and Bob looked closer puzzled, "Lance? Why Lance?"

"I just don't wanna be stuck here for eternity with Lance."

"Aw. Thanks, man. Wait, what?" As always, he only heard the first part.

"We're down to our very last vote." Bob informed, "Pidge, you're the Paladin that everyone says is the smartest, the most analytical, the most logical. Let's see who you voted for. Hunk? Seriously?"

"Yeah. Hunk gets along with everybody." She said kindly, "If anyone's gonna go out into the universe and bring people together, it's Hunk."

"Aw, thanks, Pidge." Hunk said with his hands clasped together and they connected fists lightly.

"No one voted for themselves." Bob said to himself, "Everyone wanted someone else to get to leave and every single one of you got a vote."

"So, I guess we all get fed to the Snick or something now, right?" Lance stated.

Bob turned around and squinted his eyes evilly at us, his voice became demonic for a second time, "You all get… quaz-cenbullion credits!" He finished happily, "You win!"

Confetti fell from the ceiling and the audience cheered loudly, I sighed holding my chest in relief while the others celebrated.

"That's our show, everybody." Bob said to the camera, "From all of us here at Garfle Warfle Snick, please have your klanmuirls spayed or neutered. Good night!"

Everything suddenly went dark and I jolted awake in my chair, I sat up frantically looking around and plotted down when I realized I was back in the White Lion's cockpit.

 _"Are you okay?"_ Storm asked concerned.

"Hey, guys." Hunk called, "I just kind of dozed off for a second and I had this crazy dream."

"Garfle Warfle Snick?" Pidge said.

"No way."

"You guys saw that, too?" Keith asked.

"Yes, I was taking a nice nap when I suddenly opened my eyes and there we were." I voiced.

"So, wait, does that mean Bob is real?" Lance asked bewildered.

"Bob? Did you all just meet Bob?" Coran asked.

"Coran, you know him?" Allura asked.

"I've never met him myself, but I've heard tales." He responded, "He's an all-powerful, all-knowing inter-dimensional being who judges the worthiness of great warriors."

"Well, I bet he never met anyone worthier than us." Lance boasted.

"The legends say that if you meet Bob and live to tell the tale, you're destined for great things indeed." Coran added.

"The guy was kind of a jerk, though, right?" Keith mentioned.

"Majorly a jerk!" I exclaimed.

"Completely." Allura agreed.

"I'm not that dumb!" Lance protested.

I leaned my head back hitting my head on the head rest, "Uh, I'm kind of getting tired of being tested for my worthiness. Who else's approval do I have to get next?"

 _"That was some dream."_ Storm said looking through the memory in my mind.

"Like you have no idea. I didn't even get any rest." I closed my eyes, "I'm scared he gonna pop up again."

Storm chuckled, _"Sleep Taylin, don't worry, I'll watch over your dreams. No one will dare to touch you while I'm here."_

 _"Thank you Storm."_ I said with a smile and slowly slipped into deep slumber.

* * *

Hey Everyone!

Sorry to be gone fo so long... again.

I have been really busy lately, but I will try to upload another chapter soon.

Also have New Year!


	51. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51**

 **The Ruins**

Our journey became rather uneventful since the time Bob captured our minds and placed us in his game show. We would wake up, eat, socialize, run a few tests and repeat. I had honestly lost track of time here, there was no day or night just an endless sea of black. It kind of made me miss our adventures, but on the other hand we would be fresh for a new start on Earth. Once we arrived, we would have to start planning the construction of a vessel to replace The Castle of Lions to be able to set out again into space again. We needed a base of operations where the lions could recharge their powers cores without taking days.

Storm had become a little irritated of being cooped up inside the lion, so I let him fly around outside for short periods of time. I could feel his relief when he was finally able to stretch his wings to their full length. In one of his space flights, Storm was nice enough to transfer Shiro over to the White Lion for us to have some time together. I was over joyed to have him aboard and feel him close to me. I had found the chest with his belongings and set up sleeping accommodations for him next to mine. Shiro had given me a wide smile when I showed him his things. Over all the commotion, I still remembered to look out for him.

It was another regular day and we went to bed cuddling up to each other. His warmth brought a sense of security to my being and I could not help but to lean in closer to rest my head in the crooked of his neck. I had fallen asleep almost instantly, but the sound of Keith's voice pulled me out of my dreamless sleep. I covered my ears trying to keep him out and covered myself whole with the blanket.

"Come on, it's time to wake up." Keith's voice rang in my cargo hold.

"What's the point?" Lance stated, "We're just floating in space. There's no day or night here."

"For once… I agree with him." I said groggily and yawned.

"Mhm, we should sleep for fifteen more doboshes." Allura sighed.

 _"We should sleep until we get to Earth."_ Storm added covering his head with a wing.

"Guys, we can't let this long journey make us soft or dull our skills." Keith interjected, "Routine will keep us sharp."

 _"I slept over ten-thousand years and I'm as skilled and hard scaled as always."_ Storm argued.

"Keith's right." Shiro said; I lifted the blanket off my face and saw him already up wearing his Paladin armor, "Routine is what got me through being Zarkon's prisoner and being in the infinite void of the Black Lion."

"I guess that does make you an expert on killing time." Lance breathed.

"Okay everyone, to your stations." Keith ordered, "Running battle simulations now."

"Wow, Keith, wait up." I stated, "Give us some time to get ready."

"Fine, just hurry up." He responded with a sigh.

I covered my face again and rolled over trying to get just a little bit more sleep, but someone tugged at the end of my blanket uncovering me.

"Come on Taylin its time to get up." Shiro chuckled.

"I don't wanna." I whined.

"Nobody wants to, but we have to do this to keep sane."

"I am sane. I just wanna sleep some more."

I felt Shiro sit at the edge of our sleeping accommodations and touch my shoulder, "Are you feeling alright? You been really tired lately."

I rubbed my face and turned to face upward taking a deep breath, "I'm just recuperating from everything that's happened lately. It has put a strain on me physically and mentally."

"But you're not sick?" Shiro asked with worry.

I gazed into his eyes and gave him a smile, "No, I'm not sick."

He returned the expression and ran his hand through my hair, "Glad to hear that, but it's time to get up sleeping beauty." I whined as he pulled on my arm and brought me into a standing position.

I grumbled and sagged my arms, "Your unbelievable."

"But you still love me." He stated with a smirk.

I pointed a finger at him, "That's not… Yeah I do." I had no comeback, so I went to get my Paladin armor to begin placing every part in its place and finally make my hair look decent. I turned around to look at him with my hands on my waist, "There, happy."

"Very." He came to me and placed a kiss to my forehead, "But you are missing one thing."

I cocked my head in confusion. Shiro reached with his one arm behind me and brought my crown into view. He placed it on my forehead and stepped back to analyze me, "There, all done."

I chuckled and rolled my eyes, "Thanks." I tip toed and gave him a kiss on the cheek before heading into my cockpit to get ready for Keith's training. I took a seat on my pilot chair and stretched my arms up before placing them on my controls. Shiro took point beside me.

"I programmed a new battle simulation." Krolia informed. My screen flickered, and a lava filled planet appeared. "I think it's going to be especially challenging."

"Why do you sound happy about that?" Hunk asked.

"Like mother like son." Lance muttered.

"Focus." Keith stated.

"Here's the scenario." Krolia began, "You're on a planet with double gravity, dense volcanic fog, and eight blowar raptors are attacking. What do you do?"

The scenery changed, and we were on the surface of the planet, volcanos spit lava all around us and eight winged beasts await us in front.

"This is a good one." Keith voiced.

"Do these raptors have eggs?" Hunk asked, "I say we steal some and we make a little breakfast." He suddenly screamed, and his beckon disappeared from the radar.

"A blowar raptor just melted you face off, Hunk!" Krolia stated, "Now it's eight on five."

"Well, it not like we can steal eggs from them." I said getting ready, "These are as fake as Shiro's culinary skills."

"Hey!" Shiro protested with a laugh.

I moved out of the way when a raptor tried to grab the front of my lion and dove down toward the lava floor. I pulled up at the last possible tick making the raptor crash into the glowing hot pool. "Take that!"

"Good job Taylin, but you still have seven to go." Krolia said.

Lava spouted before me and I moved to the right avoiding contact.

"Everyone split up to thin their numbers!" Keith ordered, "If there was just some way, we could… What?!" He was shot down by one of the raptors.

"Keith, you're out." Krolia voiced with disappointment.

"Okay, I think I know what to do." Pidge spoke up, "This place has thick volcanic fog, right? That means the raptors must use some sort of thermal vision to see us."

"Maybe I can lure them away with my heat rays." Lance said.

"And Allura and I can create an ice barrier that could render them blind to our presence, practically making us invisible." I added.

"Great idea." Allura agreed.

I fed a little of the cold element to my lion to let the training system know what I was doing, and Lance fired a heat laser towards a faraway mountain which seemed to have worked. The raptors began to move to the point of impact.

"It's working!" Lance exclaimed.

"Nice!" Pidge cheered.

"Let's get them while they're distracted." Allura said.

"Okay, Allura with me." I said and began creating an ice shield around us, but I got so concentrated that I did not see the torrent of lava that suddenly gushed out. My screen went white and the darkness of space reappeared ending the simulation.

"Wait. What happened?" Pidge asked.

"You focused too much on the raptors and forgot about the volcano." Krolia explained.

I grumbled and crossed my arms, "Aw, just when we had a good plan."

"That fictional planet seems harsh." Lance pointed out.

"I programmed the simulator to be unbeatable." She answered, "I wanted to see how long you'd survive."

"Well, I hope your happy." Lance sighed.

"For the record, if that was real, I would have been able to sense the lava guessers." I stated trying to get some type of redemption.

Krolia chuckled, "Sure, whatever you say."

I crossed my arms and pouted.

"I know you could have done it." Shiro stated, "This was just a training exercise, nothing to get stressed over."

I gave him a small smile.

"Food incoming!" Hunk exclaimed breaking my strain of thought.

Storm emerged from the cargo hold with a yawn, _"It's about time."_

"Aw, what a good wolf… fella… guy." Hunk trailed off; we had been using Keith's space wolf to teleport things from lion to lion. It was fascinating to learn of the unique ability of the wolf. "Gosh, we really gotta come up with a name for this wolf."

"Not gonna happen." Keith interjected.

"Oh, come on!" Hunk pushed, "I vote Kosmo."

"I like Kosmo." Allura voiced.

"Kosmo is cool." Lance added.

"I agree, it seems fitting." I said, "After all, he is a space wolf."

Said wolf suddenly popped into my cockpit and turned his back to the side for me to reach into the make shift backpack Hunk had placed on him. I patted his head and proceeded to take our share of food before he disappeared onto the next lion.

"We're not calling him Kosmo." Keith argued.

"Oh, come on Keith, we gotta call him something." Hunk whined.

"I figure when he's ready, he'll tell me his name." Keith responded.

"So, Kosmo. Got it." Lance said plainly.

I distributed the food wraps between the three of us and began to eat hungrily; it tasted amazing. As always, Hunk had outdone himself.

 _"You know, the wolf does not have the ability to mind speak."_ Storm butted in, _"How do you expect him to tell you?"_

"I don't know, but he'll come around."

 _"Mhm, space wolf I name thee, Kosmo."_ Storm said in a comical manner making everyone laugh; Keith sighed giving up.

"Oh! Hunk, this is delicious!" Lance voiced.

"Yes, thank you, Lance." Hunk answered, "I made it by collecting fungus paste from the dung of the beetles on that last planet we stopped at to pick up supplies."

Lance spit out his food, "Hunk, please! I don't want to know what it is. I just wanna eat it and pretend that it's my meemaw's home cooking."

"You won't have to pretend soon, we will be on your home planet before you know it." I reassured with a smile.

A beeping sound came over Pidge's open channel, "A signal!"

"How did you get a signal?" Allura asked rapidly.

"I've been running a passive scan, so I wouldn't give our location away, looking for any signs of communications." She explained, "And I just picked up something!"

"Well, what is it?" Keith asked.

"I'm patching it through now."

A small screen appeared on my control panel, static came over the sound until Pidge managed to stabilize the signal, but to my dismay it was not what we were hoping for. It was some type of Bi-boh show, they were sitting talking on a couch; an audience laughed in the background. Coran's loud snickering echoed in my cockpit.

"What is this?" I asked unamused.

"That bii-boh sold the other's flizblaznator!" Coran continued, "These bii-boh-bis get comedy."

Suddenly one of the Bii-bohs hit another one knocking it down to the floor, Coran's laughing stopped in an instant, "The drama caught me totally unaware."

"Wait, wh— shh, shh, shh, shh." Hunk quieted down, "What's that noise?"

The laughter coming from the show continued but, in the background, there was an electronic screeching sound, if one did not pay attention it would have been easily missed.

"It sounds like some interference." Pidge commented, "I'll try to tune it out."

"No, wait." Krolia stated, "Pidge, can you amplify that signal?"

"On it."

The Bii-boh show disappeared and it was replaced by the signal waves, I watched Pidge work her magic as the signal began to become clearer.

"Oh, I wanted to know what was going to happen." Coran wailed.

"Lower your voice Coran." I said and cocked my head to the side trying to listen through the screeching.

"Judging from the intermittent sound structure, it's just deep space interference." Pidge informed, "Most likely a radiation pulse from a nearby star."

"No, that's just what it's supposed to sound like." Krolia interjected.

"You know what it is?" I asked.

"Yes, listen to the sounds in-between the pulses. There's a unique pattern."

I closed my eyes and took in the sound, inside the screeching I suddenly heard small chirping, Krolia was right.

"She's right." Allura voiced hearing it too.

"Before the Blades were unified." Krolia began, "We would use this crude way of communication with each other. Not many Blades know this code. It must be a senior member."

"Kolivan?" Keith muttered.

"Possibly."

"What does it say?" Shiro asked taking step forward to take a better look at my screen.

"It's a distress signal." She answered, "Whoever is sending it is in trouble."

The radar began to triangulate the signal's position until it marked it on the map.

"It looks like it's coming from this sector." Pidge said.

"Do we know anything about that section of space?" Shiro asked.

"Not without the Castle of Lions' research library core." Coran spoke up, "We would be flying in blind."

"We must go!" Krolia rouse her voice.

"That's pretty severe detour from Earth." Hunk stated.

"If Kolivan is there, then maybe there will be more Blades." Keith said, "We need all the help we can get to reach Earth."

"It's a long way from our current path, but Keith is right." I spoke up, "If indeed Kolivan is sending this distress signal, we cannot turn our back on it. We need to help him."

"Then its settled, everyone follow me." Keith said moving his lion's trajectory towards the signal marked on the map. We followed close behind him banking to the right. It was not long before we picked up on the signal's path.

"The signal is coming from this planet." Pidge informed, "I'm detecting remnants of a civilization, but I don't see signs of life." The planet looked like a long chuck of rock which gravity brought together in an odd formation. The top of it stuck out with a flat surface.

"Is that a good or bad sign?" Romelle asked.

"In all my space experience, there have never been any good signs." Hunk commented.

We approached the planet and landed on a cliffside overlooking a destroyed city; tall buildings leaned on one another and huge cracks decorated the surface of the street. This place must have been beautiful once, but all that had vanished to what seemed a long time ago. I lowered White's head to the ground and place my helmet on before making my way outside with Storm and Shiro trailing behind me. The others did the same and we journey to the ruins of the city passing over a bridge that lead to the main citadel. Pidge took point scanning for any signs of life, her monitor beeped constantly but nothing seemed to appear on her radar. The place looked even more haunting up close as the remains of the city towered over us.

"I still can't tell exactly where the signal originates." Pidge said tapping on her screen, "I'll keep trying to triangulate its location."

Storm looked around cautiously taking in every aspect of the crumbled buildings, _"This place smells like death."_

 _"I wonder what happened here."_ I pondered, _"I hope the civilians made it out of here."_

 _"By the looks of it…"_ Storm stopped his statement and a pang of sorrow transpired through him as he remembered our home planet. I placed my hand on his side in comfort and kept walking to keep up with the others who had managed to get ahead of us as we took in the scenery.

"The signs are all around us." Krolia stated, "There was a massacre here."

"Some of this damage looks like it's from magic." Allura pointed out as she analyzed a blast on the wall. I went to stand next to her to get a better look. The wall looked to shimmer a bit like the remnant of a quintessence blast.

"You think this was the witch?" I asked.

"It could be, but why would she attack this planet?" Allura countered.

I had no answer, something big must have taken place here I just could not figure out what.

"Everyone stay alert." Shiro advised.

Kosmo turned his head and gave a low growl, but when we looked there was nothing, so we continued walking until Krolia stopped to analyze a gash on a small wall, "This strike patterns look Marmoran."

"Keep looking." Keith said, "We need to find whatever Blade is broadcasting that signal."

Kosmo growled again and this time bearing his teeth.

"What is it?" Keith asked.

Kosmo took off running up a fallen building and jumped, we heard scuffled on the other side and we immediately followed. On the other side was Kosmo with someone beneath his front paws, he growled menacingly at their face. I summoned my Bayard into a sword taking a fighting stance behind him as the others also pointed their weapons.

"Good job." Keith praised his mutt, "Who are you? Who's broadcasting the signal?"

"It was me." A male voice answered; it sounded hollow underneath the mask.

"Impossible. You're no Blade of Marmora."

"I will explain all if you would put down your weapons." He wheezed out under Kosmo's pressure.

"Let's see what he has to say." Krolia voiced eyeing her son.

Keith looked down at him with hesitation for a few ticks until he retracted his sword and ordered Kosmo to let him go. The wolf followed his instructions and came to stand beside him. The man stood up brushing himself off.

"Come, I will explain everything that has transpired here." He motioned for us to follow.

 _"I don't trust this man."_ Storm hissed.

I patted his leg, _"Let's hear him out first then we can decide if he's trustworthy or not."_

He grumbled but complied moving to follow the stranger to a nearby cave where he had set up camp. Various boxes and planks littered the floor around a camp fire; he threw some of the wood into it feeding the flames.

"This place is disgusting." Romelle voiced imprudently.

"I have called this place home for the past two deca-phoebs." The stranger said.

Romelle gave him a sheepish grin, "Oh, well, "disgusting" is Altean for "lovely." You don't speak Altean, do you?"

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.

"This is where the signal was coming from." Pidge informed looking at her screen again, "Somewhere below us."

"You are clever." The stranger said sitting in front of the fire, "But I wouldn't expect less from the Paladins of Voltron."

"You recognized us?" Lance asked lowering his riffle.

He chuckled slightly, "Of course, of course. Though, I am surprised to see you. All were certain you perished."

"Yeah, we just found that out." Lance said, "But we're back."

"And I am so grateful that you are. It's been so long since I've had… guests."

"Well, thank you for your hospitality, but who are you?" Shiro asked.

"What exactly happened here? Why is the city in ruins?" I added taking a step forward.

"Bloodshed happened here." He answered grimly, "Death happened here."

 _"See, I was right."_ Storm seethed.

I rouse my hand stopping him from ranting and motioned for him to listen.

"I am Macidus. This is my home planet. But now I am the only one left alive here."

Krolia suddenly gasped gaining our attention to the far-left wall covered by a tarp, she turned around pointing her gun at Macidus, "What are you doing with these?"

I moved towards her to see between the tarp's gap and I was shocked, there was so many Blade of Marmora blades incrusted on the wall. All those Marmorans… lost. I bit my bottom lip in anger.

"I hang them in honor of their sacrifice." Macidus responded calmly, "They died trying to protect the universe."

"How did it happen?" She demanded.

He turned his face away to look down at the fire, "This all started when Voltron disappeared, when— when you disappeared. The power vacuum that ensued destabilized much of the universe. Galra turned on each other. Warlords and pirates became the rulers of the land."

"What happened with Haggar, the witch?" Allura asked.

"No one knows. But her Druids continued her work, carrying out her final orders. They set out to destroy every Blade."

"After Lotor took over the throne, almost every Marmoran agent was exposed." Pidge stated in realization.

"And that's when the slaughter began. All Blades were called away from their assignments and sent to this base." Krolia lowered her weapon powering it down as he continued. "Kolivan knew they were being hunted and he wanted to make a stand against them. He believed it was their only means of survival."

"That must be why they abandoned that base we found." Romelle voiced.

"Indeed. When they arrived here, my people helped them fortify their base, but the Druids found us sooner than we hoped. They arrived without warning. The Druids encircled the base and besieged it with magic. After a long battle of attrition, the base fell. Casualties on both sides were enormous. My people were the first to try to escape. They were slaughtered. I stayed behind with Kolivan. He led those of us that remained to battle the last of the Druids. But for each one we managed to take down… nearly a hundred Blades would fall." I closed my eyes and bowed my head. "In the final battle, I was buried beneath a collapsed structure. When I regain consciousness, the fight was over, and I was the lone survivor. I've been sending the signal Kolivan gave me ever since in the hopes of finding any remaining Blades."

"There are still a few of us alive." Keith spoke up.

"Good."

"I recognize every one of these Blades. I trained many of the myself." Krolia pulled out one of the blades, "If I had only been here." She touched the sword's body in sorrow, "Kolivan."

Keith approached his mother, "Their service will not be forgotten."

The blade suddenly hissed and began to glow, "Is it supposed to do that?" I asked shocked.

"Kolivan?" Krolia voiced with hope, "His blade, it's flickering."

"Flickering? What does that mean?" Pidge asked.

"A Marmoran agent's life force is connected to their Blade." Krolia explained, "I just saw it glow. He must still be alive."

"We need to mobilize and find him." I said urgently, "If the blade glowed faintly then it means his life force is seeping away. He doesn't have much time."

"Just barely." Macidus crocked.

We gasped and turned to look at him, "How do you know?" I demanded.

"You look much better since the last time I saw you." He pointed a finger at me and stood up.

"Last time you saw me… I have never seen you in my life." I trailed off confused.

"You don't remember my voice Princess Fireheart." Macidus's deep voice echoed in the cave with spite, "You begged me over and over again to stop, but it was you who prolonged your suffering. We spent so much time together, I'm hurt you don't recall who I am."

My eyes widen at his statement and my breath caught in my throat. I knew exactly who he was, he tortured me all those years ago during my captivity. He shocked me with dark magic, dug his bony fingers into my flesh and tried to make me believe that I had no other option but to concede to his wishes. My lips slowly pulled back and I growled, "You!" My Bayard appeared in my hand and manifested into a sword, "How are you still alive."

"I could ask you the same thing, but I already know the answer. You don't give up don't you, I should have finished you when I had the chance. When I had you in my grasp."

I finally had enough and charged towards him, but Keith stepped in front of me preventing from moving any further, "You've been using that signal to draw Blades in!"

The other Paladins took fighting positions and Storm let out a low growl bearing his jagged teeth. _"You will pay for what you have done."_

Macidus laughed menacingly, "Kolivan proved to be useful after all." He vanished from our sight and a small glowing device fell where he once stood. It hit the ground breaking in two.

"No!" Krolia yelled, everyone else was puzzled at what the device did, but she clearly recognized.

In an instant the shards were engulfed in a magenta sphere and expand towards us. Kosmo was able to get Keith away just in time, but everyone else was caught in the blast. I touched the closes person to me, Allura, and placed a shield around her. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as the energy surrounded us. I could still feel my body, but my limbs refused to move. My thoughts flowed like one trekking through the mud. I tried to expand my mind out to Allura, to be able to communicate with her, but it proved a challenge. So, I tried over and over until a wisp of her own mind touched my own, _"The shield, use it to your advantage."_

She didn't say anything, but her outstretched hand began to glow as she took in the energy around us. If I could smile, I would have done so, but the relief of knowing we would be fine was enough. The dome around us commenced shrinking in a bright light lifting up dust in the air as swirls of energy were sucked in by Allura. A few ticks passed by and the force keeping us in place fell away and Allura tumbled to the ground exhausted. I rushed to her side to take her hand and lift her up.

"Allura are you okay?" Pidge asked worriedly.

She groaned, and her breaths came out in short puffs, "Pidge lock on to Keith's location!"

She tapped on her screen frantically, "He's directly below us!"

"Stand back!" She told me and punched the ground releasing all the energy she had took into herself. Allura created a hole in the ground and I jumped in right behind her holding my sword tightly as I noticed Macidus.

"How?"

Behind him was Kolivan chained to the ceiling looking pained. What Macidus had done was preposterous, inhuman, and evil.

"I'm going to enjoy making Kolivan watch your end." He seethed. He glowed and disappeared once again coming up behind us. Hunk turned around to fire his Bayard, but Macidus was able to evade every shot. He reappeared right next to him and send an energy orb at him, throwing Hunk towards the wall. I proceeded to swing by sword at his back, but he turned around to block it and dematerialized and kicked my side. He kept doing that trick taking down the others swiftly. Allura launched her lasso; he moved to the right, side stepping her, shocking her back. Allura screamed in agony and her legs gave out.

In that moment I felt hate, real burning hatred towards this fiend, "Don't you touch her!" He laughed and came rushing towards me using his magic to pop up in different place making it hard for me to get a clear shot. I grabbed the closes thing to me and closed my eyes feeling the dark magic emanating from him. I let myself be perceptive to the darkness and suddenly it all became clear. I could see him coming closer to me and I swung Keith's Marmoran blade in front of me. It stabbed itself in his abdomen and he looked at me shocked groaning in pain. Flashes of energy illuminated the darkness and his body was captured in a blinding glow. I covered my eyes with my arm as he screamed and exploded. The Marmoran sword clanked as it hit the ground and a small orb of light slowly faded away where he once stood. I bended my body until my head touched the ground breathing heavily, I had managed to get rid of one of the most powerful druids, but I didn't feel any different. Revenge was not sweet, it was vile and bitter, but it was him or me.

"Good job, Taylin." Lance breathed.

"Yeah, it thought this was gonna end with my face melted off, like in that simulator." Hunk groaned as he stood up.

Someone touched my shoulder and grabbed my hand helping me get back on my feet. Keith looked at me with concern but didn't comment on what had transpired. I squeezed his had in gratitude and let go. He nodded his head and walked forward to pick up his sword. Storm came down from the cave and helped lower Kolivan from his bindings brining him up to the surface and carefully set him down in a corner. Krolia, Pidge and Keith hovered over him inspecting his wounds; he looked worn out. Who knew how long Macidus had tortured him using him to destroy the rest of his fellow warriors.

"He's in pretty bad shape, but it looks like he's gonna be okay." Pidge diagnosed.

"I… I'm sorry my code lured you here." Kolivan struggled to speak.

"There was nothing you could do." Keith said, "The coordinates I gave you, the Altean colony, were you able to find it?"

Kolivan grunted, "I sent a team. There was nothing there. Just an empty facility. They were all gone."

I pang of dread for my people and the remaining Alteans spread out throughout my body. I was so close to finding out more of their whereabouts, but it seemed that every time I managed to be a step closer, they vanished. I slumped my shoulders looking down at the ground in defeat and sadness. I didn't want to feel this way, but old wounds never really disappear. They are there until they are remembered. Macidus was connected to a very painful time in my past, one that had caused me a great deal of loss.

Krolia broke the silence, "Judging from the blades that Macidus collected, he may have delivered a critical blow to the Marmora, but he did not defeat us entirely."

Kolivan sighed, "I must find the others. The universe needs us now more than ever."

"I will join you." Krolia said with a glint of determination in her eyes, "We will revive the Blade of Marmora together. We'll just need to find a ship."

"The Druid has a cruiser stored not far from here." Kolivan informed, "We can use it to reunite the Blades."

"That's our first bit of luck in a long time." She smiled down at him; Kolivan exhaled and closed his eyes, "Rest." Krolia stood up and her determination quickly vanished replaced by gloom. She walked towards her son, "Keith, I… I'm sorry to have to say goodbye to you for a second time."

"It's not goodbye." He reassured unsheathing his Marmoran blade, "Take this. You can return it when we see each other again." She took the blade and hugged him tightly as if trying to pour out all of her love into one gesture.

"Thanks for everything you taught me, Mom."

"Keith." Shiro called, "It's time to get going."

"I love you, Keith." Krolia stated with a small smile.

"I love you too, Mom."

I took a deep breath reeling in my emotions and glanced towards the leader of the Marmorans, "Kolivan, I may not be able to help you on this mission, but I can make it bearable." I went to kneel beside him as he looked at me in thought. I opened and closed my right hand a couple of times before I placed it inches away from his chest. I closed my eyes and united my strength with Storms already knowing what I was going to do. I drew on my energy making my palm tingle with heat and slowly lowered it down until I touched him. I could feel his battered spirit and the pain that coursed through him. I healed the direst wounds and finally replenished him with the energy he would need to get on their way. I opened my eyes and removed my hand giving Kolivan a hint of smile. He lifted up an arm testing out his strength and sat up analyzing his body.

"Than… thank you."

"It was the least I could do after all you have endured. I wish you the best."

"I'm sorry I ever doubted you, I thought those with power would turn against us, but I see now you are not ambitious like Zarkon. It is an honor to have you on our side."

"I can say the same, farewell and be careful." I stood up and gave a small wave to Krolia before I followed the others back to the lions.

One thing was for certain, I was going to miss her.

* * *

Hey everyone, I hope ya'll doing okay.

Thanks for reading, I hope to update sooner.


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52**

 **Journey Within**

Silence befell us as we left Krolia and Kolivan behind, no one spoke a word. Only the sound of our thrusters echoed in our cockpits and the occasional beep of our instruments. I wanted to say something, but I just didn't know how to break the ice. Days passed by like this that even Storm just decided to nap as a past time. I sat in my pilot chair upright with my helmet on almost expecting for something to attack us. Honestly, I was paranoid. Who would have thought that after ten-thousand years I would confront this demon from my past. I wished things could have been different. For those who inflicted pain to see the error of their ways. I knew deep down I wanted Zarkon to open his eyes and see what terrible things he had committed and for Lotor to have chosen a different path. I yearned to see the good in people, but sometimes there was not even a glimmer of light. I held on to the flame that ignited my soul and kept me going. I had so much to live for. I never thought I would become friends with a distant race or that I would choose a mate among them. The path of life had twisted and turned to the point where I no longer saw what was ahead of me and that frightened me. I feared the unknown.

Pidge began to run some wave length tests breaking the silence, her work appeared on my screen when she asked Shiro for his opinion. I sat back listening to them banter; Shiro's voice always seemed to sooth me.

"Maybe if we run this configuration." He tapped on the screen and send it to Pidge.

"Still nothing." Pidge sighed, "Allura, try the sonic wave."

"Okay, I'll try." Her lion glowed as she connected to it, but the Blue Lion's eyes flickered powering down. "It's still not working. And it probably won't work again until our power-cores are recharged."

"Roger that." Pidge responded, "Well, our long-range scanners still haven't detected any planets nearby. No star systems, nothing."

Lance grumbled, "How long have we been out here?"

"Going on four movements." Romelle said tiredly.

"And how long is it gonna take us to get to Earth at this speed?"

"I think Pidge said something like ten billion deca-phoebs."

"I said one and a half Earth years." Pidge interjected.

"Eh."

"Whoa, whoa." Hunk said, "Wait, there's a big discrepancy between ten billion deca-phoebes and one and a half Earth years. Which one is it?"

"It's one and a half Earth years!" Pidge retaliated angrily, tired of the others questioning her, "We've gone over this several times, though there may be a margin of error of about a month, depending on any time dilation we encounter."

"Calm down Pidge, we trust your judgement." I said trying to calm her down.

"Well someone doesn't think so."

"Look, we knew this wasn't going to be an easy or quick voyage but replacing the Castle of Lions is our top priority." Shiro spoke up stopping Pidge from ranting.

"We just have to stay sharp and maintain discipline." Keith finally joined the conversation, "We knew when we started this journey that we'd be low on power. We didn't plan on going through the galactic void, but we'll get through it."

"That's the spirit." I cheered not too enthusiastically; Shiro smacked my arm lightly. I grinned at him.

"Don't worry, guys." Lance perked up, "We'll run into something eventually that will turn this trip around."

"What makes you so sure?" Hunk asked.

"If my experience in space has taught me anything… it's that something always comes along to try to kill us."

"That's… comforting." I sighed.

"It's true!" He exclaimed, "Every time we set out the Galra were always chasing after us or some monster tries to eat us."

"And they still are." I pointed out.

"Right, right. Hey, don't you have any interesting stories to pass the time?"

"Oh, now I'm the entertainer." I scoffed.

"How about we play a game?" Hunk asked.

"Like that worked so well the last time." Pidge butted in.

"Oh, I got one! We-" Coran started.

"No, we are not playing eye spy." Keith interrupted.

"Or learning the Altean alphabet." Shiro muttered.

"How about we play two truths, one lie?" Lance suggested.

"What's that?" Romelle asked.

"A person makes up two truths about him or her self and one lie. The others have to guess which one is the lie."

"Sounds simple enough." Allura said.

"Alright, Tay, you go first."

"What is it with you putting me on the spotlight." I crossed my arms and huffed.

"I say the non-humans go first and you my friend aren't human." He stated slyly.

I placed my feet up on the control panel, "Fine, let me think."

"Allura is going to win this one." Coran complained.

I chuckled, "Okay I got it. Listen carefully because I'm only going to say this once. I have always been a great flyer on a Drako's back. I snuck out a lot when I was a kid. I fell off a balcony once."

Allura scuffled a laugh.

"Allura, let them figure it out."

"I'm not going to say anything."

"I think you snuck out a lot is the lie." Pidge said.

"And why is that?" I asked smirking.

"You like to play by the rules so I'm guessing you were a goody two shoe growing up."

"Fair enough, anyone else?"

"I don't think you fell of a balcony." Lance added, "I don't see how that would happen."

"Mhm."

Allura could not hold in her laughter, "Actually, she did."

"Wait, what?" Shiro looked baffled.

"There was this one-time Allura arrived at the Castle of Drakie without sending a message, so I wasn't expecting her. I was up in the balcony of one the hallways and I decided to step on the railing to get a better view. I closed my eyes for a brief moment when suddenly Allura screamed my name making me lose my balance and I fell over."

"I remember." Allura recalled, "I was so scared that I had killed you, but then you came up flying looking angry and chased me throughout the castle."

"Well that is until I crashed into one of the servants and you burst out laughing."

"You should have seen the look on your face… priceless."

"Ha, ha, ha." I mocked sarcastically but could not help a smile.

"That's pretty funny actually." Lance snickered, "You seem so graceful most of the time."

"So that means the flying part is the lie." Pidge deduced.

"You got it, Pidge."

She cheered.

"Care to tell us about that one?" Hunk asked.

"It was our second day of training, our teacher Quione was teaching us the basics on how to work together during flight. I was on Storm's back learning some techniques on how to position my body to avoid wind currents. Everything was fine, we were on the ground, but Storm was eager to take the skies. He extended out his wings and flapped shooting us up into the air. Quione started shouting for Storm to land, but my scaly friend could be proud sometimes and refused to come down. I had no other option but to place my training to the test. Surprisingly we flew fairly fine for a while until he dove down. Storm humped his back so much, the force sent me flying off."

 _"She screamed so loud that the birds in the forest flew away scared."_ Storm commented lifting up his head.

"Hey, I thought you were asleep." I shot.

"Then what happened?" Keith asked actually becoming engaged in the story.

 _"Quione flew up to catch her, but instead of feeling bad for her, she scolded her for not opening her own wings. Ever since that day, I place a barrier on Taylin's legs, so she won't go flying off."_ He chuckled.

"Wow, and here I thought you two were born perfect flyers." Hunk commented with a laugh.

"I wish, but training is what got us through." I said with a smile.

"So that was the lie." Lance smirked, "Nice to know a bit more about you."

"Is that what this was about?" I shot back playfully.

"Nah, I needed something to pass the time. It's getting kind of boring just flying in space."

We bickered and laughed until we got tired and everyone quieted down. I kept my feet up with my hands on my stomach feeling comfortable, after a while Lance broke the silence again.

"Hey, Pidge, why is it so dark out here?"

There were no nearby stars, only a void of black, it was frightening in a way.

"I can't be sure, but my theory is that this area is surrounded by some kind of nebula that blocks most of the lights." She responded.

"Oh, yeah. Must be a patch of that dark matter I've heard about."

"That isn't what dark matter is." Pidge corrected.

"Although, when it's this dark, I guess it doesn't matter, right, guys?" Hunk tried to make a joke, but no one laughed.

 _"Smooth… like sand paper."_ Storm huffed.

"Uh, this is why no one rides with me anymore, isn't it?"

"Guys, I think I might have an idea on how to get the lions back to full power." Shiro spoke up from his place beside me. He had been standing there in thought for a while, but I did not comment on it.

"And you're just telling us this?" Lance protested.

"Well, I'm sorry, Lance, but I guess having my consciousness transplanted from the infinity of Voltron's inner quintessence into the dead body of an evil clone of myself has left me a little out of sorts for the past few weeks."

"Point taken." I frowned remembering, "What do you propose?"

"It's difficult to articulate, but remember when we were fighting Zarkon… and we were hit with that beam that drained all our quintessence?"

 _"How could we forget, Taylin almost died."_ Storm said unhappily.

"I remember, you were all completely incapacitated." Allura voiced.

"That's right, but we managed to regenerate enough power to keep fighting." Shiro continued choosing to ignore Storm's remark.

"Yeah. We re-powered Voltron ourselves." Keith stated.

"Exactly. And I think that's how it's meant to work." Shiro stuttered, "Since I disappeared, you've been relying on the castle's crystal to keep the lions charged. But if you were a team of fully-realized paladins, you wouldn't need that."

"I… I can't help but to feel this must be my fault." Allura murmured, "You were able to recharge Voltron before, but since I joined…"

"It's no one's fault." Shiro assured, "Being a Paladin of Voltron takes training. You just haven't had time to focus on working together to find your balance in this configuration."

"Well, we've got nothing but time now." Pidge perked up.

"That's right." Lance agreed, "We've been down before, and we always come back."

"It was our determination and will power to keep going that helped us to continue fighting that day, I don't see why we can't give it a shot once more." I said sitting upright and placing my hands on my controls.

"I'm glad you're here, Shiro." Keith said, "After all you went through, how did you find the strength to be the leader of Voltron?"

"I had help." He smiled down at me and place his hand on my shoulder, "That's why there are six of you, to lift each other up."

I beamed at him shortly and returned my gaze forward grabbing on my controls tighter with fortitude.

"So, what should we do?" Keith asked, "Maybe some flight formation exercises?"

"What's that?" Pidge asked.

"You know, when you line up and…"

"No, no, no! That! Dead ahead!" She exclaimed.

Suddenly flashes of lights appeared before us in what looked like clouds, they appeared in less than a tick and vanished only to reappeared in a different location.

"My scanners aren't picking anything up!" Pidge informed with bit of panic.

"It looks like a storm. Could it be a space storm of some sort?" I asked.

Pidge didn't even have time to answer when one of the flashes happened right in front of our lions. The power surge sent us flying back, I pushed my handles forward trying to regain stability.

"What the quiznak is this!?" Lance yelled.

"Whatever it is, we got to move!" Keith grunted.

"Fly in the opposite direction!" I ordered.

We turned around trying to out fly it, but the tendrils of light gained on us, passing faster than out lions could fly. An electric current shook my lion and pushed me back towards the source of the energy. The other lions were stuck in the same predicament.

"Break high!" Keith commanded.

We flew up to try to fly over it and it vanished for just a second when it appeared underneath us. The flash was stronger than the last one and this time the electricity coursed through out bodies making us scream in pain. The shock was so powerful that my body shut down rendering me unconscious.

I came back to my senses with a loud gasp startled by what had happened. I jumped out of my seat breathing heavily. The White Lion was completely shut down, I tried moving one of the handles, but nothing happened.

"Is everyone all right?" Keith's voice came over my helmet's comm.

"I'm here." Pidge muttered.

"I'm okay, I think." I breathed.

"Still alive." Lance grunted

"That was crazy." Hunk stated.

"I'm fine." Allura voiced.

I turned around to see how Shiro and Storm were doing but what I saw stunned me. They floated inside the cockpit with pained expression, frozen. They did not seem harmed, but it worried me. I floated towards Shiro and touched his face, but he did not acknowledge my touch. "Shiro, can you hear me? Shiro?" He kept clenching his teeth with his eyes closed. "Storm?" I nudged his snout, but he was in the same state. "Come on, what wrong with you two? Please answer me." I pleaded. My helmet's interface scanned their bodies, but it did not find anything wrong with them. "Shiro and Storm are frozen, but my scanner says their vitals are strong. I can feel their life forces, but I don't understand what's wrong with them."

"Same here." Keith responded analyzing Kosmo.

"Copy that with Romelle." Lance said, "What's going on?"

"Coran is frozen as well." Allura added, "Our paladin armor must have protected us from the shock."

"But Shiro is wearing his armor, I… he's not wearing his helmet." I said stopping my thought.

"The Blue Lion is completely incapacitated." Allura mentioned.

"Yeah, Red is out too." Lance sighed.

"So, we're all alone in space, no power, no way to call for help, nothing within several thousand light years…" Hunk scared himself with each realization.

"What do we do?" Lance asked.

There was silence for a few ticks until Keith spoke up, "Pidge, is there any way to get the lions back up and running?"

"Maybe, but I don't know how long it'll take." She answered, "And I don't know if you've noticed, but we're all drifting in opposite directions after that blast."

"If we don't get the power back on, we might lose each other." Hunk stated hastily.

"We got to figure something out, I can only keep pulling the lions with my powers in one direction for so long." I said holding on to Shiro's arm so he wouldn't float upward.

"Okay, the power's gonna have to wait." Keith said in thought, "Taylin, save your strength for now. Our top priority is tethering the lions together."

"I think I have an idea of how we can do it." Allura stated.

"How? Some magical powers that you learned on Oriande?" Lance asked with hope.

"No, I have some leftover zip line in my hull."

"Oh." He huffed in disappointment.

"We're getting out of our lions to do this?" Hunk asked in fear, "We don't even know what that energy pulse was."

"Well, how else do you suggest we tether the lions?" I shot back.

"It's the only way to stay together." Keith remarked, "Allura, grab that zip line. Let's get moving."

I touched Shiro's face one last time and patted Storm's leg on my way out. I climbed out of the White Lion's head holding on to the hatch to avoid flying away. I closed the entrance and began to move to the front of the lion with the help of my jetpack.

"Stay close to your lions and hang on." I cautioned.

"Ugh." Hunk gaged, "So many lions, all spinning."

"Come on, Hunk." Lance encouraged, "You've been through worse than this."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay. Let me just… Nope." Hunk was trying really hard not to heave in his helmet, "No good. Oh, don't barf in the space helmet, Hunk. Don't do it."

"Hunk, take a deep breath and close your eyes tightly for just a few ticks." I suggested, he followed my instructions calming himself down bit by bit.

"You're going to need to push your lions to my location." Allura called out, "Otherwise, there won't be enough cord to attach us together."

"Uh, by ourselves?" Hunk whined, "I don't think that's possible." He activated his jetpack pushing against the Yellow Lion, but it did no good. "Yeah, no, we're definitely gonna need more help. Our jetpacks just don't have enough thrust. This is gonna take forever."

"Then we're going to have to move one lion at a time." I stated.

"Agreed, on our way." Keith said, "Everyone to the Yellow Lion!"

I placed my feet on my lion's snout and pushed off in Hunk's direction gaining enough momentum to not need my jetpack. I crashed onto the side of the Yellow Lion and grabbed on to an opening on its leg. I moved carefully around until I was with Hunk by the snout. The others arrived and activated their jetpacks pushing against it with all their might, but a flash of light appeared behind us.

"Oh, no!" Lance exclaimed.

"What?" Hunk asked turning his head to look.

I followed his gaze and noticed another electrical flash forming not too far from our location, my blood ran cold at the sight of it.

"Everyone hold on!" Keith ordered.

The electric current shot out from the source and pushed against us like before. We held on to the side of the Yellow Lion's head struggling to keep our grip.

"I'm losing my…" Pidge screamed as she lost her hold and flew back, I tried to catch her, but she moved too fast. I took a deep breath swallowing my terror and let go to try to reach her. I was thrown back rapidly but I used it to my advantage to catch up to her. I reach out my hand towards her foot. I was so closed to her when something crashed on to me throwing me off course. The other Paladins had not managed to cling on to the lion. I flipped out of control watching everything move by in a blur.

"I'm losing sight of the lions!" Pidge yelled.

"Stay together!" Keith yelled back.

"Oh, no!" Hunk screamed.

I created a shield for me to crash on to and pushed toward Keith who was closes, activating my jetpack to stabilize me. "I got you!" I took hold off his arm with all my strength managing to stop him from spinning away.

"I got Hunk!" Lance informed.

"I've got Pidge!" Allura second.

I saw them fly by and reach my hand to her which she managed to get ahold of.

"Fire your jetpacks." Keith commanded, "Let's get stabilized."

Keith grabbed on to the others and we followed his lead activating our jetpacks to slow down. I huffed in relief when our speed began to subdue, and we slowly stopped.

"Oh, thank you." Hunk breathed.

"Does anyone have eyes on the lions?" Lance asked.

I looked around anxiously remembering Shiro and Storm were aboard, but I could not locate the White Lion or any of the others, "I… I don't see them." That pang of fear took over me again, where were they?

"Neither can I." Allura said.

"At this point, I don't even know which direction they're in." Hunk stated.

"Okay, let's run through our checklist." Keith began to assess the situation calmly, "Does anyone have any supplies?"

"Nope." Lance said.

"Mm-mm. Nothing." Pidge added.

"No food. No water." Hunk second.

"Our suites will recycle enough moisture to keep us hydrated for a little while." Keith informed, "We just need to hang tight. We have each other."

"Don't worry, Hunk." Lance said with a smile, "Something else will be along to kill us any minute now." He paused for a moment and frowned, "Any minute now."

"Oh, please don't start." I rolled my eyes.

"Any minute."

Lance eventually quieted down, and we clung to each other interlacing our arms together creating a circle with us facing outward. We floated through space for what seemed like vargas. No one said much, my eyes were becoming tired and my muscles stiff. Once in a while Keith made us sound off with a timer he set on his visor.

The beeping went off for the fifteenth time, I was starting to get irritated by it, I just wanted to find the lions and see if Storm and Shiro were doing okay. Why did this have to happen to us? Of all people. The universe must have had a nice laugh.

"Everyone sound off." Keith said tiredly.

"Lance here."

"Pidge Here."

"Taylin here."

"Allura here."

"Hunk?" Keith called when he did not sound off.

"I'm hiding." He responded.

"I need you to sound off, Hunk." Keith said, "It's important to maintain discipline and mental acuity in these situations. These techniques helped my mom and I through the Quantum Abyss."

"Keith is right." Allura spoke up, "Being lost in space has been known to drive one mad. Too much time contemplating infinity is not good for the mind."

"Yeah, we can't afford to go space mad." I uttered, "We need to keep sane if we're going to figure out a way to get back to our lions."

"I like to keep busy calculating pi out as far as I can." Pidge said lowly, "The record is four quadrillion, but that's using the Hadoop parallelization framework. I'm just using my brain."

"That's… very impressive." I admired.

Hunk chuckled, "Hadoop."

"Wait. Guys!" Lance suddenly exclaimed, "Look! Lights!"

"Told you Lance would go crazy first." Hunk pointed out.

"No, no, no! I see them!" Pidge said excitedly, "There really are lights!"

I turned my head to the right and indeed there was a flash of light in the distance, it was moving towards us swiftly.

"Perhaps it's a ship." Allura said with hope.

"Oh, yes! Yes! We're rescued!" Hunk cheered.

As the light neared, it looked like thousands of flying creatures creating a tunnel around the light. They flew by us casting their radiance like shining stars, their wings looked triangle shaped with small flowing veins on their surface. Their bodies were rounded with long fin tails. I looked at them in wonder, I had never seen such a creature.

"Amazing." Pidge voiced.

"They're beautiful." Allura said.

They circled around us like we were the light, I reached out to touch one only gracing its wing momentarily. "This is incredible."

"We should follow them." Hunk said.

"What?" Keith voiced confused.

"Yeah. They must be heading somewhere. Like a hive or something. And wherever that is, it must be better than floating around here just, like, starving to death."

"Perhaps they have a home planet and we can find help there." I agreed.

Keith looked worried, but complied, "Hunk's right. Let's follow them. Everyone stay together."

We activated our jetpacks but the moment we did so, they vanished like they had never existed. I blinked a couple of times trying to make sure I was not seeing things, but all the light that radiated from the creatures had disappeared along with them.

"Where they go?!" Lance asked bewildered.

"Were they even real?" Allura gasped.

"They had to be, we all saw the same thing." I said disappointed, "This had to be real... this…" I sighed, the glimmer of hope that had sparked in me was extinguished in an instant.

"I guess they could've been a hallucination." Pidge theorized, "But that usually only happens when you're going mad."

I growled, "I don't like when my mind is tempered with."

"Everyone hang on to each other again." Keith ordered with distaste, he had a glint of anger in his eyes.

We went back to our previous positions, holding on to one another with our arms interlaced. The sequence started over again making us call out our names every time the beeper went off. I only did it because of Keith, but in reality, I just wanted to close my eyes and drift off to sleep.

"Everyone..." Keith exhaled, "Everyone sound off."

"Allura here."

"Taylin here."

"Lance here."

"Pidge here."

Silence came from Hunk.

"Hunk, sound off immediately!" Keith snarled.

"Keith, you don't have to-" Allura started but was cut off by Hunk.

"It's okay, Allura. It's okay." He rambled, "I was just kind of, you know, lost in this fantasy that we'd get to Earth and, you know, the Garrison would throw us a parade and all that stuff, and then, you know, maybe I'd meet some hotshot pilot who wanted to check out the Yellow Lion, and then maybe the Yellow Lion would take a shine to her, obviously, and I'd be like, whoa. Whoa. I can't stand in-between you two. The bond is strong here."

"Hunk, what are you talking about?" Lance asked.

"Fantasizing about quitting Voltron." Keith answered for him grimly.

"No, no, no, no, not quitting." Hunk corrected, "No. Just, you know, being the bigger man. Just stepping aside to pass the baton down to a younger generation."

"Am I quite wrong or is Hunk still very young by Earth standards?" Allura asked.

"He is." I stated plainly and sighed, "I want to pass down the mantle of the White Paladin to, someday, one of my children. Perhaps even the title of the Golden Drakie would get passed down if I have a daughter." I chuckled, "I would love a daughter, and I probably name her after my mother, Talise. But yeah, Hunk is young, I beat him with like ten-thousand years."

"No, I think time is different for me, like I'm on dog years or something." Hunk said.

When Hunk finished his sentence, we were suddenly flying out of control. We screamed in panic trying to stop moving too quickly.

"What's happening?!" Pidge exclaimed.

"What is this?!" Lance shouted.

"I'm being pulled away!" Allura yelled.

I grabbed on tighter to her hand, "No! I'm not letting you go!"

"Something is attacking us!" Hunk said, "Keith, what do we do?"

"I can't hold on!" Allura told me.

"Stay with me Allura! Please don't let go! Please!" I cried.

Keith let go of my other hand and started to lash out with his Bayard, swiping it side to side trying to attack an invisible force. His hand started slipping from my grasp as he aggressively pulled. I let go of Allura and wrapped my arms around him from behind to retrain him, "Keith! Stop!"

He turned his head to the side glaring, "My Bayard won't work. We don't know where the lions are. We're being attacked by things we can't even see."

"Keith, what are you talking about?" Lance asked confused, "There's nothing out there. It's just us."

I let him go as Allura reached out for me and he turned his gaze away, puzzled. Everyone else started to link together and we took our usual spots with our backs to each other. I looked at Keith from time to time half expecting him to lash out again, but he only looked tired with dark bags under his eyes. I imagined I looked the same, here in space it was difficult to tell how much time had transpired. It felt like we had been floating for vargas if not days. I wanted to think that everything would turn out all right, that we would get back to our lions and reach Earth but the more I thought of it, the more it seemed like an impossible dream. I was so tired, the connect I had with my powers subdued. My mind could not think clearly.

Keith's timer went off starling me a bit, but he did not say anything.

"Keith, shouldn't we sound off?" Lance asked.

"What's the point?" He said weakly.

Lance chose to ignore him and sounded off, "Lance here."

"Pidge here."

"Allura here."

"Taylin here."

"I am Hunk."

"I wonder how my dad and Matt are doing." Pidge muttered.

"Better than us, hopefully." Keith told her.

"My father had something he always said in dire situations." Allura spoke up.

"Give up?" Keith breathed.

"Sorry?" Allura did a double-take to see if she heard clearly.

"It's just doesn't seem like he was a real fighter when the chips were down."

"Keith, come on." Hunk whined.

"You have a lot of nerve questioning someone's leadership seeing how you left us!" Allura shot back.

"Allura, please." Hunk said surprised.

"As I recall, you were the one who got us all cozied up to Lotor." Keith seethed.

"Keith, you ran away." Lance retaliated, "Maybe you should have just stayed away."

"Lance, Keith, everyone, stop!" Hunk exclaimed letting go; everyone split up.

I don't know what got into me, but I suddenly felt very angry hearing Keith talk about Allura and King Alfor, "Keith, you have no right to speak about anyone here. Lance is right maybe you should have never come back. Just because you were in the Quantum Abyss for two years you come back all wise and take leadership of this team like nothing ever happened. You failed us so many times! You don't deserve to be leader, you're not even half the leader Shiro was!"

"Taylin! Stop!" Hunk shouted; I looked at him bearing my teeth and breathing heavily and pushed Keith away from me. "Everyone stop. Look, guys, I understand what's happening here. You're all brave heroes who don't know how to react to being scared, and it's causing you to attack one another. That or you're all going space mad. Hopefully, you're just scared. I'm scared all the time. I can talk you through it."

"Sorry, Hunk, I guess I just don't know how to be a coward." Keith stated.

"Right. That's what I'm saying." Hunk said un-offended.

"Why don't you leave him alone, Keith?" Lance growled, "Just drift off by yourself, Mr. Lone Wolf."

"Fine." Keith activated his jetpack and turned around to go.

"No, don't." Hunk reached out to grab his foot preventing him from leaving, "We have to stay together."

"Why, Hunk? Are we even friends?" Keith said without any emotion, "Is there anything holding us together besides some messed up series of coincidences? I mean, what are we? Some chosen saviors? Do you really believe that? What are we even doing out here?!"

Hunk thought about his words before answering, "We're doing what we have to."

Keith kicked at him and tried to fly away, "Let me go!"

"No!" Hunk pulled him back.

"Uh, guys?" Pidge interrupted pointing in front of us. A light sparkled in the distance like a nearing star.

"Is it more of those creatures?" Lance asked.

"No, it appears to be a single source." Allura analyzed, "It looks like a planet."

"No way."

"It's... Earth." Keith voiced.

Earth came closer, half of it reflected light and the other was in darkness. I was breathless, we had finally made it after such a difficult journey. "I've almost forgotten what a planet such as yours looks like it's... beautiful."

"That wave must have knocked us all the way across the universe!" Pidge stated with content.

"We're home!" Lance cheered and began to fly towards it; we followed after without a second thought. "We're gonna make it, guys!"

The blue oceans and green land made the perfect combinations in colors, no more blackness and endless sea of stars. I would finally be able to feel the wind on my face, taste the various elements on my tongue, have the rays of the sun kiss my face. I flew quicker towards my goal, I yearned to finally meet the planet that would become my new home.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, guys, where's the sun?" Hunk asked, "Where's the other planets? Or the moon? Stop! This is too good to be true. Stop. Everybody, stop!" He passed us and outstretched his arms halting us.

"Hunk, what are you doing?" Allura asked confused.

"Move, Hunk." I said, "We finally made it, your home planet is right there."

"No, no, something is wrong!"

"Hunk, you're hallucinating! You're going space mad!" Pidge accused, "Just let us take you home!"

We had no other choice but to grab him and pull him along, he tried fighting back but we were not going to give up; we were so close.

"No! Listen to yourselves!" Hunk yelled, "You're letting all of this get the better of you. There's no way that can be Earth."

"Just trust us Hunk." Allura said, "You'll thank us when we get there."

"Let me go!" He grunted and pushed with force through us, but that did not stop us. If Hunk did not want to come with us to Earth, then there was nothing we could do. A smile appeared on my face and I reached out with my hand towards Earth, but a yellow beam graced by us making us scream and cover our faces. When we finally looked back it was no longer Earth that awaited, but a giant glowing one-eyed beast. It looked similar to the smaller creatures we had encountered but with enormous fins stretching out from its sides. Two glowing green wings extended from its back like sails and its underside glimmered the same. Its face had a long grey beak and one azure eye stared at us as if it could see through our souls.

"What the quiznak is that thing?" Lance asked.

"Hunk was right." Pidge said.

"He saved us." Allura added.

"Get ready, its coming for us!" I warned.

The beast opened its jaws revealing hundreds of sharped teeth in a circular formation. We flew towards the edge of its mouth rapidly before it could chomp down on us. It missed by a few inches.

"Guys, that thing is hunting us." Lance stated, "Its gonna get us all unless we do something."

"Like what?" Allura asked, "We can't even use our Bayard's."

"But Hunk is using his." I pointed out.

"How did you manifest yours, Hunk?" Pidge asked.

"I don't know." He responded, "I just knew that I needed to."

"What are we gonna do?" Lance said frantically, "We don't stand a chance!"

Hunk activated his jetpack and aimed at the monster flying towards it, "Get out of here. I'll buy you some time. Go!"

Everyone screamed after him to come back.

"Hunk, come back here! Don't do it!" I screamed petrified for him.

He shot at the beast, but its skin seemed impenetrable; the monster roared and opened its jaws ready to take him in.

"Make a chain!" I ordered.

We grabbed on to any extremity that we could; Pidge reached out to stop Hunk holding on to his leg.

"What are you doing?"

"Fire jetpacks!" Pidge said.

We activated them sending us away from the monster's path.

"What are you guys doing?" Hunk shot at us, "I told you to escape!"

"Why would we ever do that without you?" Lance answered with a question.

"Yeah." Pidge second, "You can't expect us to just leave you."

"We're a team Hunk." Allura said.

"And as such we stick together no matter what." I finished for her.

"I'm sorry I said those hurtful things earlier." Keith apologized, "I was wrong. This series of messed up coincidences did happen for a reason. They brought us together as paladins. But more importantly... they brought us together as friends."

His words moved me and all the resentment and anger I felt towards him before vanished. I felt my connection to my powers come back and with that the link to my lion. My Bayard appeared in my hand forming itself into a white and gold elegant bow. I looked up to see the others had managed to summon their weapons too and smiled. Keith nodded his head and we followed closely as he flew towards the monster's eyes.

"All right, team. We have to attack this thing with our bayards from every side possible." Keith instructed, "That way it can't target us all at once."

"Yeah!" We agreed in unison.

I banked left and pulled on my bow launching an energy arrow towards the side of the beast. My fellow paladins began to engage from other angles trying to find a weak spot. I kept on firing my bayard feeding some lighting energy to it making my arrows electrified. They shot from my hand like thunder bolts igniting a yellowish trail in the darkness of space. The beast roared in frustration as it did not have a clear path to any of us. Pidge shot her rope dart incrusting it on the monster's back making it roar in pain and dive down. I flew after her as the monster pulled her along. She screamed at the top of her lungs not knowing what to do.

"Pidge dematerialize your Bayard!" I ordered; she managed to do so and went flying off crashing into Lance. We circled around to regroup and grabbed ahold of them to stop them from spinning. The beast set its eye on us and changed its course to our location.

"It's toying with us." Allura said.

"How do we defeat something like that?" I wondered, "It doesn't seem to have any weak points."

Lance aim his riffle and gave out a battle cry firing at the monster's head. It turned around and opened its jaws moving speedily to engage. It looked to be the end for us, but when all seemed lost the Red Lion appeared firing its jaw laser at the beast making it turn around. I gave a sigh of relief when Nimawe came into view; she extended her wings, radiating light, and fired an energy beam at the beast's back. The other lions followed her lead hitting it from all angles causing it the retreat. The Black Lion finally came into view stopping in front us in a protective manner, giving a load roar.

The monster shirked and turned to fly from where it had come from, afraid of the mighty Lions of Voltron.

"Yeah, you better run!" Lance shouted after it.

"I think he might actually be running from that." Pidge pointed behind us.

Another electric storm neared, things were getting more complicated by the tick.

"Again?" Hunk whined.

"We know we can't outrun it." Allura mentioned.

"We're not running this time." Keith stated with confidence, "Everyone get to your lions."

We waisted no time and approached our lions getting inside our cockpits ready to confront the storm.

"Form Voltron!" Keith ordered.

A smile grew on my face as the familiar tingle of power coursed through as my lion flew behind Black shifting until they connected. The other lions transformed into the appendages of the titan assembling together. Voltron had once again made an appearance after so long and just in the tick of time. The storm was before us, shining its electrical currents in our direction on full blast. I pushed on my handles activating Voltron's wings pushing us forward through the storm. It managed to throw us back, but I was persistent. We were going to make it through this, there was no question about it. What we went through for the past vargas had brought us closer as Paladins and friends. I could feel their determination through our shared links.

My console began to beep, and the Bayard's control slot opened. I glanced at from the side and summoned my Bayard plugging it in and turn it like a key. Our wings began to glow as they grew five times their regular size with additional propulsions.

"Voltron, you never cease to amaze me." I grinned and pushed on my controls to max capacity shooting us forward at an incredible speed. We grunted as the force pushed us back in our seats but that extra boost seemed to be getting us through the storm with ease. We did not last more than a few doboshes when the storm cleared, and we were back to the normal vastness of space with thousands of twinkling stars all round us. I got up from my seat to check on Shiro and Storm. I kneeled down to their level and patted Shiro's cheek lightly. He groaned and opened his eyes; I lunged at him taking him into my tight embrace. "I'm so glad you're okay." Storm grumbled beside me and rouse his head blinking a couple of time. I reach up to his neck and brought him down, so I could hug them both.

 _"What happened?"_ Storm moaned disoriented.

"We were attacked by an electric storm and we got lost in space, but not to worry we were able to get Voltron back."

I planted a kiss on both their heads and helped Shiro get back into a standing position. I made my way back to my seat with both of them standing at my side.

"It looks like that nebula carried us thousands of light years away." Allura informed.

"So, where are we?" Coran asked.

"That looks like… I recognize these constellations!" Pidge exclaimed, "This is Earth's solar system! It's the Milky Way!"

A spiraled galaxy glimmered before us; I could not believe we were almost to the human world.

"Home." Hunk sighed.

"We made it." Lance said.

"We're finally here." Shiro voiced, I touched his side with a smile, happy that we had made it here together.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Keith asked.

"Let's get home." I said with content, Shiro touched my head and looked down at me with a small smile happy that I had called it my home. The truth was I had already found my home long ago.

He was my home.

* * *

Hey everyone, hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Thanks for reading.

I'm really excited to see Taylin adjusting to Earth and what destiny will bring her.

Until next time!


	53. Chapter 53

**Chapter 53**

 **Know Your Enemy**

So many different thoughts raced through my head as we move closer to the Milky Way Galaxy. I wondered how things would be on Earth and what I would do when we got there. Not many humans have met distant races let alone someone like Allura, Storm or I. My stomach felt strange with anticipation, but it was silly of me to think the humans would reject me for who I was. Shiro, Pidge, Hunk, Lance and Keith had been really accepting since the start and even felt comfortable around Storm; I only hoped the other humans in the so-called Garrison would do the same.

Voltron moved faster than a shooting star nearing a blue gaseous planet in the Earth's solar system. Pidge opened a frequency to Earth trying to get ahold of her father to let them know of our arrival, but only crackling static came through. We feared the worst, perhaps the planet had already been invaded.

"Dad, please respond." Pidge begged, "Voltron is coming. Hold on."

"Are we too late?" Hunk asked.

"No, we can't think like that." I said and fed more energy to Voltron to go faster.

"Katie? Katie, it that you?" Sam's voice came through the static.

"Dad, it's me. I'm here."

"Katie, I'm so glad to hear your voice. Where are you?"

"We're within the Solar System." Pidge responded, "Heading to Earth now."

"Wait! You must stop!"

"What is the matter, Sam?" I asked.

"Sendak has invaded the planet. He's taken over Earth. If he finds out that Voltron is here, he'll threaten the people of Earth in exchange for the lions." The mention of his name brought back memories of our first encounter with Sendak, it nearly cost us our lives and the lions. If he had done all those horrible things to countless planets under his watch, what had he done to Earth?

"Reverse thrusters!" Keith ordered.

"Copy that. Hold on tight!" Hunk said.

I pulled back on my handles activating the ones on the wings while Hunk and Allura helped with the legs. We came out of hyper speed and the alarms began to beep as the radar picked up enemy ships. The Galra fighters opened fire and we began to take evasive maneuvers. I back flipped us out of the way of an incoming laser.

"Paladins, we blocked the patrol's transmission." Sam informed, "You're clear."

"Roger that." Lance stated, "Let's take 'em out!"

"Right there with ya." I agreed and turned us around to face our attackers to let Lance take his shot. The Red Lion roared and fired individual disk-shaped lasers taking out two of the patrolling ships, the third managed to get away. We flew after it using our new thruster power creating a sonic boom.

"Lance, take your shot." I said, "Were getting close."

"Wait!" Pidge halted, "Don't destroy that ship. We might need it."

"Really? For what?" Lance asked.

"I've got an idea."

"What are you planning, Pidge?" I enquired.

"Let's capture it first, then I'll explain."

"All right."

I moved in an arch to intercept the fighter and managed to capture it by firing an electric pulse from Voltron's chest that would only affect the sentry onboard.

"Nice shot." Shiro praised, "Lets disband and find a safe place to land the lions."

We turned back into lions while Pidge began to explain her plan, "We can't fly our lions to Earth without being spotted, so they'll have to stay here on this moon in Saturn's rings, which should keep them hidden from Sendak's radars."

"Nice thinking Pidge." I voiced, "Sendak won't see us coming if were using one of his ships."

We landed the lions and quickly disembarked all piling in the cargo area of the small ship. Everyone was squished together, but it would have to do. Storm shrunk to our size to take up less space, but he was still bigger than Kosmo who resided in-between Allura's legs. Keith, being the best pilot of us all, took it upon himself to fly us to Earth. The fighter resonated as it began to take flight and shoot forward.

"I hope the mice and Kaltenecker aren't too frightened without us." Allura commented.

 _"I'm sure they'll be fine, there not the ones walking into a war zone."_ Storm said annoyed at our current predicament; he was stuck between Shiro and I. I reached out to grab Shiro's hand trying to find some comfort in what we were about to face. I felt sad and angry to have my friend's planet get taken over by the evil force that was Sendak. He was another thorn on our side like his master, Zarkon. He knew we would be coming here. Hitting the home planet of the human paladins was a low blow, but one done with ill intent. When would this war hungering cease? When will the universe finally find peace?

As we neared the blockade of Galra cruisers only our breathing could be heard inside the cargo hold. My heart beat faster with worry, hoping the Galra would not notice our presence. The ship jerked down suddenly, and we grabbed on to anything we could to avoid falling on each other.

"Hang on!" Keith warned, "We're entering Earth's atmosphere."

"This is weird." Hunk commented, "This is almost exactly how we left Earth, crammed in the cockpit of the Blue Lion."

The ship shook violently causing us to grunt.

"We're overweight." Keith informed, "I'm losing altitude. Brace for impact!"

The alarms blasted in our ears; Storm moved closer to me hovering a wing protectively, I clung to Shiro's hand and closed my eyes tightly waiting for the impact. Keith was able to activate the boosters at the last second and crashed the ship horizontally to minimize the damage. I clenched my teeth until I felt the ship come to a complete stop and opened my eyes inspecting the others for any sign of injury, but everyone seemed fine.

"Come on, everybody out!" Shiro ordered.

Allura kicked the doors down and we hastily made it outside, away from the burning ship. It seemed we had landed on a rocky deserted mountain. There was no sign of the Galra, so we continued upward. When we reached an edge of a cliff what we saw was disturbing. An earthling city lay in ruins like a war had recently taken place. Buildings were missing pieces of their structure, the paved roads were cracked, and the scenery had lost all its color. Sendak had brought death upon the people of Earth.

"Hey, I know this place." Hunk said, "I've been here. This is Plaht City. It's about a half an hour from the Garrison."

"Whoa." Lance breathed, "I can't believe this is all that's left of it."

"Sendak brings destruction were ever he goes." I stated grimly.

"We need to get to the Garrison." Keith spoke up, "Stay together. Let's move quick and quiet. Storm, stay on the ground but vigilant."

Storm nodded his head and hummed agreeing the Keith's orders.

"Let's get moving before the sun goes down." I said and took the first step down a slope to make way into the city. The others followed close behind preparing their bayards for anything we could encounter. I summoned by bow holding on to the pull string lightly, scanning the area from side to side. Storm joined me upfront setting his body close to the ground and sniffing the air for danger. When we arrived at the main streets, it was even worse than we thought. Everything laid in ruins, there was not a single item that was not broken or completely shattered.

 _"This city reminds me of the one where we found Kolivan."_ Storm remarked, _"I wonder what happened to the inhabitants."_

 _"Let's hope they made it out alive and out of the grasp of Sendak."_ I responded, _"These people did not deserve this, they got dragged into a war they were not prepared for."_

I was about to take another step when Lance grabbed my collar and pulled me back just as a stream of lasers rained down on us. "Whoa! Take cover!" Lance led me to an abandoned vehicle and crouched down hiding from the incoming fire. Storm ran behind a fallen wall along with the rest of the team. I looked up to see what was attacking us to notice small grey spheres. They looked similar to the machine Pidge had called Rover, but these were much more powerful with their defense system. Hunk stepped out of his hiding spot and returned fire, but the spheres made him retreat. Lance stood up to aim his riffle, but it was of no use; they moved too fast for him to aim. I pulled him back before he got shot, returning the favor.

"We need to take them out stat, before they signal to the fleet our location!" I shouted over the noise.

Keith joined us behind our cover, "I'll distract it, you two take the shot." He was about to run out when he squinted his eyes at us, "Don't miss."

"I never miss." I muttered, "Go!"

Keith ran out from our cover jumping over the vehicle, dodging the sphere's lasers, "Get ready Lance."

He took a deep breath, "All right, let's do this."

We stood up and aimed our weapons at the two spheres trailing behind Keith. I aimed my arrow at the left one while Lance took the right. Getting a clear shot proved to be a challenge since they moved so quickly, "Shoot where they will be, don't aim at them directly." I advised and let my energy arrow fly. It flew in an arch managing to pass the sphere and came down right on its target, taking it out. Lance fired in the same manner resulting in the elimination of his objective. We turned around to fire at the other orbs and they too were destroyed.

"Good job… sharpshooter." I grinned.

Lance smiled cockily, "I knew that name would catch on."

"I wonder how many of these things they have around here." Keith wondered, "Pidge, any chance we could see those things before they get to us?"

"Already on it." Pidge said working on her small screen, "Looks like four more headed our way." Just then, a laser flew right towards us but thankfully Storm was able to cover us with one of his armored wings.

"Are you alright?!" I asked worriedly.

 _"I'm fine, Taylin. Now move!"_

I jumped behind a boulder with Allura and Shiro while to rest scattered finding anything that could work as cover.

"It's not drones. Look." Shiro pointed out.

"Sentries." I growled, "Just what we needed."

Hunk and Lance returned fire taking out two of the battalion, the rest stood on high ground trying to pick us off from above.

 _"We have incoming death spheres!"_ Storm warned but they were just a distraction. A sentry rushed towards Hunk with its gun aimed at his head. I pulled on my bow firing an arrow at its weapon making it slip out of its grasp. Storm circled around to engage and was about to pounce on it when a strange looking vehicle crashed into it sending it flying to a nearby building. Another one joined, and humans emerged, firing at the sentries.

"Stay down, we got this!" A woman said, she shot down a sphere that aimed for Keith.

"I had it." Keith seethed.

"Drones send distress signals when attacked." The male human explained, "Our weapons neutralize those signals. So, unless you wanna deal with a swarm of those things, let us handle it. Now let's get out of here before more show up."

We got out of our hiding spot and followed his orders getting into the two vehicles, there was not enough room for Storm to get in, so he took flight and flew close the ground, trailing us.

"That thing isn't gonna attack us, right?" The human male asked.

I didn't like his tone, but he did save us from the sentries, so I answered calmly, "He will protect us."

"If you say so." He muttered and continued to drive through the canyon.

The ride was bumpy as we drove over steep hills, but finally in the distance stood an orange dome. I gasped, Sam had done it. He had managed to implement Altean technology with Earth's. This must have been how they survived Sendak's invasion. As we got closer, a set of metallic doors opened at our presence to let us through and on the other side was a long road leading to the main Garrison facility. It was amazing. I glanced to see the faces of my fellow paladins and they too were awe struck. They were back where it all began. I took Shiro's hand interwinding out fingers together and gave him a small smile of reassurance. The vehicles stopped at a gathering of people and Pidge suddenly jumped out to embrace a woman who stood close to Sam. I could not help but to get misty eyed at the reunion of Pidge's and Lance's families. All his family surrounded him in a big hug, there were so many of them. It must be nice having a family that big to love and cherish.

I stood up from my seat, after Shiro disembarked, and he extended a hand to me helping me down while Allura used one of my shoulders for support to jump down. I gave him a genuine smiled and touched his face lightly. He was happy to be home, it was written on his eyes and I would do anything to rid of the Galra that had invaded it just to see that glint of worry vanish. Our small moment was soon over when someone called his name, "Officer Shirogane." A gruff looking man with a slanted eye and a frown stood before us, his hands behind his back. "It's great to see you again. My apologies for throwing you in quarantine."

"Ah, so you're the one who strapped Shiro to a table." Coran interjected crossing his arms with a frown, "I heard about that."

"You were just following orders, as any good soldier would." Shiro said with a smile, "It's great to see you too. Allow me to introduce you to our Altean and Drakie allies. Meet Allura, Romelle, Coran, Taylin, and Storm." Storm stepped out from behind me revealing all his form, and came forth to stand close to him, surprisingly he did not step back like any who happen to meet Storm for the first time.

 _"Very nice to meet you, human."_ Storm greeted.

"The honor is mine. Your technology has been instrumental in defending this small corner of Earth."

Storm hummed, _"I like him, his brave to come face to face with me and not coward."_

 _"Be nice Storm."_ I scolded.

 _"I'm just saying."_ He retreated to take his place behind me once more.

"Oh, yes." Coran stated pulling at his mustache, "Pop-pop was quite the genius."

"And, Cadet…" He growled at Keith who was petting Kosmo.

Keith stood up and saluted, "Yes, sir."

Commander Iverson's features softened, "I owe you an apology as well. I've heard about all you've done. I was wrong about you. It's an honor and privilege to see you again."

"Thank you, sir." Keith smiled, "I guess I wasn't exactly the best cadet back then. I probably owe you a bit of an apology, too." He extended his hand out, the commander took it. His gaze then landed on Kosmo, "Ah, and who's this little fella?"

Kosmo smelled his hand and let him pet his head.

"Oh, Kosmo likes you." Coran said, "But be careful. If you touch it, it could zap you to a different universe."

"Hmm." Iverson gulped.

"Seriously." Coran remarked having first-hand experience of Kosmo's teleportation powers.

The commander took a few steps back from the space wolf and placed his hands behind his back still looking at Kosmo warily, "Let's get you all situated in, we have much to discuss afterwards." He motioned with one of his hands to follow him. We began to walk to the entrance of the facility and he fell into step beside Shiro, "We still have your quarters the same way you left them if you would like them back."

Shiro gave him a small smile, "That would be great."

Iverson lead us to a series of hallways with many doors on each side and signaled for the others to find a vacant room while Shiro was led to another corridor. I waved to the others and followed after him receiving a confused stare from the commander.

"Will you not pick a room?"

I was about the answer, but Shiro spoke up, "Its fine, she will be staying with me."

He glanced at both of us; I could see a question formulating is his head until he finally found the right one to ask, "Are you..."

"Yes." Shiro and I stated in unison.

Commander Iverson just shook his head and said nothing more until we stopped by a white door that opened to reveal a medium size sitting area and a kitchen at the far back. Shiro looked inside in awe, caught up in the memory of his time here before he set out on the journey that would change his life forever. I took a deep breath and set a hand on his shoulder and addressed the commander, "Would you happen to have a bigger resting area for my Drako? He probably will feel more comfortable in a place where he can stretch his wings."

Iverson rubbed his chin, "The main hangar would probably be the most suitable place."

 _"The main hangar it is."_ Storm said and moved to follow him to said place. I watched him go for a few ticks until Shiro broke me out of my daze walking inside the room. I followed closely, the door shutting behind us with a low wiz.

"Everything is just how I left it." He whispered, "It seems like it was just yesterday I was here debating if I should go with Sam."

"You no longer have to debate on decisions on your own." I stated and touched his side, "You have me and the rest of the team."

Shiro placed his hand on the side of my face lightly and rubbed his thumb on my temple, "I got so caught up in my own emotions that I forgot to ask how you are doing with all this. It must be overwhelming to be on Earth and the journey here has been nothing but harsh."

"I'm not going to lie." I huffed, "It has been a bit overwhelming, so many things have happened so fast that it is sometimes difficult to grasp our reality but as long as I have you by my side, I know am going to be alright."

"You have so much faith in me." He chuckled, "I don't deserve it."

"You deserve that and much more." I placed my hand on top of his, "You are a strong person who has fought bravely to be where you are today. It takes courage to face the Galra and even more to be the leader of a team. I could not ask for a better person to be at my side. I found my place in the universe by you."

Shiro stared into my eyes for a brief moment before placing a kiss on my forehead and brining me into a tight embrace. I returned the gesture and buried my head into his chest simply enjoying our time alone. It felt as if Shiro was trying to hold me into his reality like if somehow, I would not fit in. I did not belong on this planet and if our paths had been different, I would have never journeyed here but I was glad he found me. I could be galaxies away from my cold broken planet and still feel at home in his arms. I may have lost so much, but I've gained even more.

"I think I have a standard Garrison uniform that will fit you." Shiro said pulling away and grabbing my hand to lead me into a bedroom. He went to a corner closet and dug through some things before finally coming across what he was looking for. He handed me a white and orange shirt with a black belt to go along with it and some dark grey pants.

"Who did these belong to?" I asked feeling the thick fabric under my fingers.

"Believe it or not, Keith used to be smaller." He grinned, "He out grew those a while back and they somehow made it to the bottom of my closet. The boots should fit too." He handed me a black pair of boots. "The bathroom is through that door if you would like to change."

I smiled at him timidly and turned around to head into the bathroom. The light turned on automatically at my presence revealing a medium size room. The walls were white with a small square shower at the right back corner. The counter was a deep grey, the surface sparkled with the light as it contained tiny shards of glass. I admired it for a few ticks before setting my new clothes on it to begin pealing my paladin armor off. I placed the grey pants on first then proceeded with the shirt adjusting the belt over my waist. The boots were just a tad bigger, but they felt comfortable. They went up to my calf making the pants look a bit baggy but there was not much I could do to fix it. I placed my paladin armor in a neat pile and came out of the bathroom to see a struggling white-haired man. His eyebrows creased with frustration; his lips formed a thin line.

"Here, let me help you."

I set my armor on a nearby chair and helped Shiro fold the empty sleeve upward, so it would not hang while he walked. "We'll find a replacement for your arm soon. I'm sure with the implementation of Altean and Earth technology, Sam will be able to create something that serves it purpose."

"I hope so or I'm going to have to cut all my right sleeves off." He joked.

I smacked his arm lightly, "I'm sure of it." I ran my hands over his shoulder smoothing out the creases of his uniform, similar to what commander Iverson wore; all grey, outlined with black. Shiro looked down at me with a hint of a smile and just when I thought he would lean down to kiss me a knock on the door made us back away from each other. We headed to the main door; Shiro pressed a button located at the side of the entrance to open it. Their stood Commander Iverson, "Come, it's time for our debriefing." Shiro nodded his head and followed after him through the labyrinth of corridors.

"It seems we just touched down and we can't catch a breather." I said lowly for only Shiro to hear.

"True, but the sooner we get rid of Sendak the sooner we can breathe better." He replied in the same manner.

I huffed and said nothing more when we arrived into a meeting room; the lights were dim and most of other were already waiting for us. Shiro took a seat at the end of the table closes to the orange screen displaying a map. Hunk pointed at the empty seat beside him and pulled out the chair for me to sit. I gave him a smile at his kindness and sat between him and Keith. Storm had joined us as well and was at the far back of the room laying down on his belly with his talons up front. He nodded his head in acknowledgement and turned his gaze towards Sam at the front of the room.

"Sendak's forces remain at bay, but without a meaningful supply line, we're slowly being suffocated." Sam began the debriefing.

"No one else is putting up a fight against Sendak?" Asked Shiro.

"Small underground pockets of resistance have attempted to do so with varying degrees of success." Lance's sister, Veronica, stated. "Eventually, all were discovered and systematically wiped out. Earth's offensive capabilities simply don't stand a chance against the Galra."

"Why don't we bring more people into the base?" Hunk asked, concerned laced in his voice.

"We've had to put a halt on our extraction ops as they were proving to be too risky." Sam answered.

"But there are good people out there." Hunk refuted, "They could be protected. My family's out there."

Sam closed his eyes briefly, "I'm sorry, Hunk."

"But if we have an opportunity now—"

Hunk was rudely interrupted by one of the humans who had saved us earlier, "Hey, do Paladins not understand the chain of command? Your CO said it was too dangerous."

I placed a hand over Hunk's on the table and glared across the room.

"Officer Griffin, that's enough." Sam rouse his voice, to Hunk he said more softly, "Believe me, I understand what you're going through, Hunk. We all have family out there, but we have to weigh our options. We can't lose ten people to save twelve… I'm sorry."

An uncomfortable silence fell upon the room until Allura stood up, "Well, then let's find out what we can do. You said you've integrated Altean tech with Earth weaponry?"

"Yes, with a very high success as you have seen from the particle barrier that protects this base." Sam said.

"Then we can start there." Allura voiced, "Show us all you have accomplished."

"Very well." Sam waved us on to follow him out of the room to a nearby elevator with see through glass. Everyone cramped inside; Storm had to wait for the next one as there was no more room for him. As the hangar came into view, there laid four fighters with the white and orange colors of the Galaxy Garrison.

"The Mecha-Flex-Exo fighters, or MFEs, are extremely agile with advanced weaponry, but are only capable of short-range attacks." Sam explained, "Sustaining power with Altean-infused technology is an issue we're trying to overcome."

"Maybe I can help you out with that." Coran said, "I have some leftover Faunatonium. It's an Altean fuel additive, but also has some unexpected side effects, so don't get any on you."

The elevator came to a halt and the glass door opened letting us out. It was at lose of words at the mighty ship that laid before us. It was easily four times the size of the Castle of Lions. Sam and his team of engineers began to build a replacement ship without even knowing we would be needing one soon. I was glad that we could begin preparations to counter attack Sendak's forces and set out to other galaxies to free them of the Galra's tyranny.

"And this is our battleship." Sam stated with pride, "It's large enough to house all the Lions and entire common unit."

"It looks large enough to house a city." I gasped, "This is incredible, Sam."

"It's built, but it can't fly." The commanding officer pointed out.

"What do you mean?" I asked; how could something so mighty not be able to fly.

The Admiral ignored my questions and placed a hand on her waist, she had an unfriendly scowl, "Everyone, there's a subject we can't avoid any longer. Sendak attacked Earth because he wanted the Lions, and now they're here. It seems that we need to at least discuss our options."

"Are you suggesting that we willingly hand over the Lions to the Galra?" Shiro asked in disbelief.

"Our supplies are gone." She seethed, "We spent all our recourses on a ship that doesn't fly. The weapons we do have are not enough to mount an attack. All we can do is protect a small pocket of Earth. But for how much longer?"

"The universe need the Lions." Sam retaliated

"So does Earth. They're our only bargaining chip."

"And what makes you so sure that Sendak will just leave once he has the Lions?" I shot back, "He will not hesitate to turn his forces against us. Sendak cannot be trusted, he is a traitor and murder."

"That has been his only request since his arrival." One of the other commanders spoke up, "I agree with the admiral, it is our only chance of survival. Earth has been nearly destroyed. Countless citizens have been lost. But it could all be over if we give up the Lions."

"We have a fighting chance now that the Lions have returned." Iverson took our side, "We need to take it."

"I'll settle this argument right now." Allura said sternly, "We're not giving up the Lions under any circumstances. There is no negotiating with Sendak."

"Maybe you should leave the matters of Earth to the people who live here." The admiral spit.

"You don't know the full extent of the Galra's power." I growled, "We have been out there battling them in countless solar systems, numerous planets, to know they are not a force to be reasoned with." I took a step forward; her grim expression did not scare me. "I will not allow a part of my father's legacy to fall into enemy hands, we have fought this intergalactic war far longer than you humans have been alive." I felt someone one grab my arm and pull me back preventing me from taking another step to come face to face with the Admiral; I was enraged. Shiro was the one who grabbed ahold of me trying to calm me down as a gust of wind swirled by at my irritation.

"Please, Admiral. I respect that you'll do anything you can to protect Earth. But trust us, we've been through more than you could ever imagine. We have fought the Galra on the fringes of the universe and in their very home. I know there's a way to defeat Sendak."

"How? We barely know what we're up against." She seethed, "We need intelligence and we just don't have it."

"Maybe we do." Allura voiced in thought and turned to look at Sam, "That information you downloaded from the Castle of Lions contains Sendak's memories."

"How does that help?" Sam looked confused.

"It might give us some insight into Sendak's plan." Pidge said, "Allura, you're a genius!"

Sam smiled at his daughter briefly before turning once again serious to talk to the Admiral, "We just need some time."

She eyed us sternly with her hands behind her back until she finally gave in, "Fine, but if this fails there is no question about it, the Lions will be handed over to the Galra." She turned around to leave with her head held high as if she had won the argument.

Allura, and Pidge began their way to the data storage room, everyone else dispersed. I sighed touching the bridge of my nose.

"You doin' okay?" Shiro asked concerned.

"I'll be fine, it just that when I think about losing my Lion... it angers me. It the last connection I have of my father and I am not about to lose it to Sendak."

"We'll find a way to take him down. I'm sure of it." Sam reassured placing a hand on my shoulder, "If only I could make that darn ship fly, that could speed up the process of liberation."

Coran leaned forward in our line of view twirling his mustache, "Perhaps a tour is in order, hm."

"Sure, right this way." Sam ushered us to a metallic bridge that connected to an open hatch high above the massive vessel. We entered a white hallway and into some double doors revealing the control room of the ship. It was equivalent in size to main Drakie ships that my father used to command with various working stations. Shiro stopped at the above platform examining the controls.

"I'm actually quite impressed." Coran smiled, "Despite the obviously crude nature of Earth's technological capabilities."

"It has a lot of potential, but I'm unable to recreate the power of a Balmeran crystal." Sam said, watching as Coran poked at a screen, "Maybe your Faunatonium will work for this as well?"

"Afraid not." Coran touched his chin, "A ship like this might need two or three battleship-class Balmeran crystals."

"I don't suppose there are any Balmeran nearby?" Shiro commented.

"In this young galaxy?" Coran guffawed, "On, yeah, it's right next to the Wizblattle." Shiro gazed at him annoyed causing Coran to stop laughing, "That's a no. No Balmeras around here."

"I'm afraid he's right." I said gaining his attention, "Earth resides in a very young galaxy, Balmeras only exist in in ancient star systems much too far away from the Milky Way galaxy. There must be another power source we can use."

"We have been experimenting with various types of fuels and power sources, but none are potent enough to lift the Atlas off the ground." Sam sighed.

"What about the Lions?" Shiro voiced.

"What about them?" I asked not following.

"Could it be possible to recreate something that powers this ship like them?"

I shook my head in disagreement, "That would require for us to have a crystal heart and we currently don't have any available."

"Then I guess were stuck." Sam said in disappointment and made his way to leave; the control room doors hissed as he left.

I crossed my arms and looked down at the ground, "I wish I could do more, this ship could be our only means of getting back into the fight."

Shiro took a step towards me and lifted my face with a finger under my chin, "You already do so much don't beat yourself over it. As the second in command of Voltron you have many responsibilities. I know Sam will figure it out. He's a smart man."

My lips twitched as they tried to smile but failed.

"Everything is going to be fine, Taylin. Stop worrying so much, I like to see that pretty face light up with your beautiful smile."

"Aw!" Coran awed with his hands put together at the side of his face; we had forgotten he was still here. I rolled my eyes and a light chuckle escape my lips.

 _"Taylin, Allura is looking for you and Shiro."_ Storm's gruff voice suddenly sounded in my head.

 _"We'll be right there."_

I grabbed Shiro's hand and pulled him out of the room, "Storm just told me Allura is looking for us, let's go see what she needs."

We exited the ship and made way to the upper levels of the Garrison following Storm's energy signature. Like most of the Garrison, his energy stopped at a set of grey double doors that opened at our presence, there stood Allura with her back to use looking down at a table. Storm laid to the side, his tail swaying side to side looking at the same thing with curiosity.

"You wanted to see us, Allura?" I asked, "I thought you were still looking over the castle's data base with Pidge."

"Sendak's memories were hard to hear." She said grimly and turned around to face us, "But it did remind me of something my father once said. He told me that there are those with the power to destroy, and those with the power to create." Allura stepped aside to reveal a white robotic arm laying on the surface of the table. I gasped covering my mouth, tightening my hold on Shiro's hand as he looked on stunned.

He would finally be whole.

* * *

Hey everyone!

So glad to be back.

Been super busy with life, but I'm happy to finally come around and bring you one more chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it.

I'll try to update soon. :)


	54. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54**

 **Heart of The Lion**

Preparations to unite Shiro with the robotic arm began immediately. Sam and a group of medics would be performing the procedure. They had explained to us that they would be removing the still remaining part of Shiro's old arm and replacing it with a magnetized prosthetic one that would be of far more use to him.

Shiro's eyes shined with excitement as he went into the operating room and laid back on a padded chair. He had changed out of his Garrison uniform and replaced it with a sleeveless white shirt along with matching pants. The rest of us were told to stay behind the glass window and wait. I bit my thumb's nail with worry; Sam had said there was no real danger but that did not help me to be at ease. Storm nudged my shoulder with his snout to try to bring me some comfort, but I was only able to give him a nervous smile.

 _"He's in good hands, Taylin."_ He reassured, _"Sam will not let anything bad happen to him."_

 _"I know, I know it's just... I'm just nervous that is all."_

Sam and another human began to remove the old parts of his previous robotic arm. I stepped closer to the glass not wanting to move my gaze away from them for even a tick. Time passed by without my acknowledgement all my concentration was in making sure Shiro was alive and well. I had to remind myself to breath once in a while; I could feel the other's presence nearby as they too waited with anxiety.

Suddenly Shiro's eyes opened and began to look around disoriented. Sam leaned over him, but I could not make out what he was saying. Shiro took a deep breath and voiced something to him; he looked like he was doing fine. I let out the breath I was holding, my heart still beating in my ears. The intercom came online finally allowing us to hear what was going on inside.

"I'm happy to tell you we've successfully attached your new prosthetic arm." Sam informed, "We just need to power it on and make any final adjustments." A smile grew on my face and a feeling of relief flooded me at Sam's words; he nodded at one of his helpers to continue with the final steps. "We've outfitted it with the most powerful energy source Earth has to offer. It's the closest we could get to mimicking a Balmera crystal's energy. It should generate enough power to operate most of it. The remaining power will be drawn from your body's own electromagnetic field." A human placed Shiro's arm on small table close to where he laid. The arm began to hum as it came online, and the device attached to Shiro's shoulder glowed bright. The arm suddenly lifted its self-off the table and wiggled its fingers, twirling on its axis and forming a fist. It came towards Shiro opening up its palm; he let out a gasp getting use to the feeling of his new arm.

He closed his eyes briefly, opening and closing the hand and gave a smile when the prosthetic arm complied. Just when I thought everything would turn out fine, Shiro let out a horrendous cry of pain.

"He's crashing!" Sam exclaimed, "We have to shut it down!"

Shiro's body contorted in pain as his head moved side to side trying to get rid of the agony. I could no longer stand there watching and bolted towards the entrance of the operating room. I came to his side placing my hands on his shoulder and connected his mind to mine trying to subdue the pain. I felt a shock run through as the link established and I yelp as I took some of his burden. "Sam! Do something!" One of his helpers tried to steady the prosthetic arm but it threw him towards the wall. I was about to blackout from the pain when Allura rushed into the room jumping onto the hovering hand. She pinned it to the ground with all her might.

"Sam, we need to remove the power source." She said.

Sam ran to her and opened a small hatch on the forearm revealing a chip; he took it out and Allura placed a small Balmeran crystal inside. It hummed with power still struggling against her until the beeping became quiet. The heart monitor ran normally and Shiro's body went limp in my hands. Allura let go of the arm and it floated towards him setting itself once again on the table. It gave out a blueish glow and stopped humming. The fingers flexed, and it turned itself upward. Shiro weakly opened his eyes, "What- What happened? I feel strange." He tested out his new arm and brought it up to eye level, "I feel great." He gave a wide smile.

I touched his face and mimicked his smile, "You gave us quite the scare there."

"Yeah, I think I got a mini heart attack." Lance sighed placing a hand over his heart. The other Paladins surrounded us with relieved smiles.

"I feel fine now." Shiro stated, "It feels great to have both arms back."

I giggled lightly and turned to face Allura, "Thank you for what you did. You sacrificed your tiara's diadem for this to work."

"It was nothing." She smiled, "I would sacrifice even more for any of you."

I ran to her and hugged her tightly placing my chin on her shoulder, "You are the best sister anyone could ever have. I am so grateful to have you in my life." Allura enclosed her arms around me and chuckled, "You are the best too."

"Now that this has worked out, we should get back to planning how to take back Earth from Sendak." Shiro spoke up.

I let go of Allura to face him, "But shouldn't you be resting after what happened?"

"I will rest easier when Sendak is no longer a problem. We need to concentrate in creating a plan."

"Allura and I are in-charge of the upcoming briefing." Pidge spoke up rising her hand.

I huffed; they all had a point, "Let's start then."

Shiro went to get changed back into his uniform while the rest of us made way into the conference room with the leaders of the Garrison. I took the same seat as before and signaled Shiro to sit beside me when he came in. Once everyone was settled in, Allura and Pidge stood at the end of the great table ready to brief us.

"We've learned so much from Sendak's memories." Pidge began, "We discovered his methods for taking over planets like Earth."

"Sendak constructs armaments at key points around planets." Allura second, "This gives him the ability to control enormous swaths of territory. He uses the armaments as deterrents to prevent any uprisings and to control the conquered population."

"Based on data from Commander Holt's micro-satellites, cross-referenced with resistance intel, we've ascertained that Sendak built structures on Earth." Veronica added; the orange screen lit up pin pointing the locations of said structures, "We never knew what they were being used for until now."

"They're the weapons?" Hunk asked, "So, what's stopping us from blowing them up?"

"We simply don't have enough firepower to do the job." The Admiral said rubbing her chin in thought, "And even if we did, there's a good chance those facilities contain civilians. We can't just go in blind."

"Admiral Sanda's right." Shiro agreed, "That's why we should infiltrate a base and gather intelligence first."

"The nearest base is 52 klicks south of our position." Veronica informed.

"What's the terrain like?" Shiro asked.

She tapped on her pad's screen brining up a schematic of the facility, "The region around what we'll call Base one is a complex urban environment. Our route will take us through highly patrolled areas. It'll be hard to keep proper surveillance of our surroundings due to all the structural damage."

"Then I suggest we form two teams." Shiro advised adding to the map on the main screen with his own pad, "A ground unit that will attempt to infiltrate Base One and get eyes on whatever's inside, and a sniper team that observes from a higher position, covering the ground unit and providing some visibility."

"Use communications sparingly." Veronica said, " Stay on the move. Keep an eye on the timing patterns of the patrol drones.

"Who will go with who?" I asked.

"Pidge, Keith, Allura, and Griffin, you're the ground unit." She assigned, "Hunk, Kinkade, Taylin, Lance, and I will be snipper support."

"Let's do it." Keith said standing up from his chair.

We all agreed and made way to make preparations for our mission, Shiro took hold of my arm before I left and looked at me straight in the eye, "Be safe." I nodded my head and hurried to get my Paladin armor and rushed to meet my team in the main hangar. We got into a four wheeled vehicle with Veronica as the driver. We wasted no time and followed the other team out of the Garrison base heading through the rocky terrain and into a desolate city. It was a silent ride until Lance, who sat up front, broke it.

"You know, a map would've been just fine. You didn't need to come along on this mission."

"What are you talking about?" Veronica retorted, "I've been going on these missions for months now. No one knows the terrain better than me."

"Yeah, I just don't like to see you put yourself in danger." Lance admitted.

"First of all, that's very sweet, but knock it off. You're an idiot if you think I'm not going to defend our home."

"Wow, only Keith has ever talked harshly to him like that." I chuckled, "It's very brave that you came along with us."

Lance grumbled at me, "Don't encourage her."

"We've been in tougher situations, we'll get through this one."

"I agree." Veronica stated.

"It was nice to finally meet your family, Lance." I said, "They are all wonderful people. Now I see where you get your fighting spirit from."

Lance blushed, "Th-Thanks. Oh look! Where here."

I looked out the window to see an abandoned building; it was taller than most of the surrounding structure and it would serve our purpose perfectly. Veronica parked the vehicle and we jumped out, hurrying to get to the highest point inside before the other team reached their position. We entered a dark room with big windows, Veronica used her binoculars inspecting the glowing purple structure in the distance. I summoned my bow and took a stance to her right next to Kinkade with his sniper riffle. Lance did the same to her left seeing through the scope of his bayard while Hunk took out his data pad and began working.

"No transmission. Varied radiation signatures." He muttered.

"Approaching target location." Keith informed over the comm.

"Copy that, ground unit." Veronica said, "We've got eyes on you."

"What's a bow gonna do at this range?" Kinkade asked eyeing it.

"It's not always the weapon that counts rather the person who wields it." I responded plainly; not many in the Garrison knew about my powers.

"There in." Lance voiced.

I looked on with anticipation and praying they would be fine inside the facility. I tightened my hold on the bow and extended my mind out looking for any threat near us. I could sense Allura even from this distance, her aura stood out to me the most; I had become so accustomed to her presence. Near her I felt something move; moving fast towards her location, "You have incoming."

"Acknowledged." Keith whispered.

Kinkade looked puzzled but I kept my concentration on them.

"This is as close as we're gonna get." Keith informed, "Pidge and I are going in."

"Negative. Route's obstructed. It's too well guarded." Griffin said.

"Lance, you ready to cover us when we get inside?" Keith asked.

"Ready to go."

"I hope it's not as heavily guarded inside as it is out here, but that's too much to ask." I muttered under my breath.

"Keith and Pidge have disappeared from view." Veronica gasped.

"Kosmo is a cosmic wolf, it can teleport its self and those he wishes along with him." I explained.

"Wow, amazing." She breathed.

Lance kept on looking through his scope using its sonar ability to see inside the Galra facility, "Got you, Keith. Scanning for hostiles. Sentries on the other side of the east wall. "

"Lance?" Keith called.

"You're clear." Lance waited a moment before continuing to guide them, "Okay, you guys are gonna have to take the right tunnel. But wait. There are sentries approaching from both tunnels. Hold position. Coming up to you in three, two, one."

"Were they spotted?" I asked worriedly.

"No, there fine." Lance answered.

"That thing pick up heat signatures?" Kinkade asked.

"It actually locks on to their suits' sonar imaging and renders a 3-D map within a 20-foot perimeter. It's cool Paladin stuff." Lance explained without gazing away.

"I got movement to the north." Kinkade said to Allura and Griffin using his own scope, "Drones closing in on your positions from the adjacent alley."

"We've been spotted." Allura gasped.

"Hang tight." Kinkade fired at the drones managing to take down the three in a short amount of time but that only signaled to the others their location; they began to fire, lasers rained down on them.

"I think you guys made them angry." Griffin grunted.

"I have seven hostiles." Veronica informed.

I punched the glass window in front of me shattering it to pieces and pulled on my bow materializing an energy arrow, "Kinkade you take the three on the right. Lance you got the two on the far left. I'll take care of the remaining two in the middle."

I calmed my breathing and visualized my targets feeding my bayard with an electric current igniting the arrow in a bright flash of white as it hummed with power. I let go of the draw string and it went flying as fast as a lightning bolt, zooming through the dark sky, blasting my two targets. My attack served as a distraction for Lance and Kinkade; they shot down their targets with ease.

"Thanks." Allura said relieved.

"No problem."

I waved my hand with a grin even though I knew she could not see me.

"She's pretty." Veronica commented leaning down to eye her brother.

Lance grunted, and his cheeks turned a light shade of red, "I don't know what you're talking about."

I covered my mouth to silence a chuckle, "Oh, Lance it's no use. You can't hide it."

His head dropped, and a visible sweat drop trailed down the side of his face.

"Lance, Taylin, Kinkade." Allura's voice broke our conversation, "More sentries incoming."

"These things just don't give up." Kinkade growled.

My helmet's vizor pinpointed the location of the sentries giving clear shots. I began to fire at them like before illuminating the sky like falling stars. Lance and Kinkade sniped the sentries closest to Allura's and Griffin's cover.

"Incoming drones to their back!" I warned.

"I got it!" Lance exclaimed and shot the three down.

Something caught my eye below us, I leaned over to see a few sentries coming up the stairs into the building, "It appears the sentries got wise to our location, Hunk cover our rear."

Hunk nodded his head and summoned his bayard running to the exit of the room and down the stairs. Heavy laser fire and flashes of yellow and red light seeped through the darkness as Hunk engaged the enemy. "Cover is definitely blown, guys!"

"Keith, Pidge, it's time to roll!" Lance stated.

"Copy that." Both said in unison over the comm.

"Veronica, detonate the chaff." Lance ordered.

She pressed on a small device and the chaff immediately exploded; clouds of smoke appeared throughout the city as various buildings took damage. We ran down the stairs and out the building; sentries stood with their guns down, confused.

"Rendezvous at your cruisers." Veronica said, "We only have a couple of minutes until the sentries gain vision again." We arrived at our vehicle and took off without a second more not wanting to be around when the sentries finally came to their senses.

Back at the Garrison everyone had disembarked and headed to the meeting room for a second briefing on the data Pidge and Keith obtained. Everyone was back into their regular uniforms; an aura of anticipation could be felt in the room. Storm came to sit behind me trailing his eyes over my form as I came in inspecting me for damage. He let out a low breath when he found none and nodded his head welcoming me back. Pidge went straight to business with a hologram of a cannon at her side on the main screen.

"Sendak has built Zaiforge cannons." She began, "Our intel indicates the cannons were just completed. They could launch at any time."

"What exactly is a Zaiforge cannon?" Iverson asked.

"Planet killers." Keith answered, "If these cannons launch and are fully charged, Sendak will be able to destroy Earth in seconds."

"We had a run in with three similar ones before, in the battle for Naxela." I added.

"So, what do we do?" Veronica deliberated.

"Ideally, we attack all seven bases at once, allowing them no time to stage a counterattack." Keith planned.

"That's not possible." Admiral Sanda said.

"If we had our Lions, it could be." Keith countered, "We'll have to find another way to retrieve them since the ship we rode in on crashed."

"Your Lions are orbiting another planet." The Admiral rouse her voice, "There's no way to get you to them. Plus, there are only six Lions."

"The MFEs would need to attack the seventh cannon." Shiro butted in.

"We've love to, but they don't have that kind of range." Griffin interjected.

"There should be enough faunatonium to boost the MFEs to the seventh base and back." Coran said.

"That's great and all, but Admiral Sanda has a point." Pidge voiced, "We can't get to our Lions."

Hunk sighed loudly and leaned back in his chair.

I looked down at the table in thought, maybe there was another way to get them but not in a logical sense, "We don't necessarily have to go to our Lions, rather the Lions can come to us." Everyone looked at me confused; the Admiral inter-winded her hands before her and gave me a stern look. I stood up from my seat and gaze at each face present before continuing, "We have been through so much as Paladins and we know we can connect to them in an inexplicable way. We have formed strong bonds with them and when they know we need of them, they will assist us."

"From Saturn?" Hunk asked.

"From anywhere." Shiro said standing up beside me and placing a hand on my shoulder, "You've been training for this since the very beginning. Each of you has formed a strong bond with your Lion. Tap into it."

"Our Lions did come to us when we were lost in space." Lance spoke up.

"And Red saved my life numerous times." Keith added.

"Yes, it's possible." Allura agreed with a smile, "So we'll call the Lions to meet us here."

"We'll need the element of surprise." Pidge said, "The Lions will have to rendezvous with us at the bases."

"Yeah, that will really catch the Galra off guard." Hunk said in thought, "I mean, assuming our Lions respond to our calls. What if they don't come?"

"They'll come." Shiro stated with determination, "And when they do, you will strike and destroy all seven cannons simultaneously before they can be launched. And when the job's done, you can form Voltron and finish off Sendak and the rest of his forces."

"My pilots can transport four of you to the Galra bases before heading out to the seventh cannon." Griffin said.

"I'll bring Lance to Base One." Veronica stated, "It's the closest, so I can do it by ground."

 _"I'll take Taylin to Base Three."_ Storm said to all, he stood up from his sitting position, _"It is mid-way from here, I can fly fast enough to get her there at the same time as the others."_

"It's settled, then." Shiro said, "While Veronica drops Lance at Base One, Storm will take Taylin to Base Three, and the MFE's will each fly all remaining Paladins to a base. The Paladins should reach the drop zones at exactly the same time the Lions arrive. Then the MFE's will head to the seventh base. We'll launch a coordinated attack on all seven locations at once."

 _"I will head back here after dropping Taylin off to provide aid in the case the Garrison needs protection."_ Storm added, _"No point in staying on the White Lion where I won't be able to fight."_

I turned around to smile at him and placed my palm on his snout, "Let's get ready then. Today we take back Earth."

The rest of the team nodded and began to leave to get ready for the upcoming mission. I waited for the last person to leave until it was just me, Storm and Shiro.

Shiro took my hand and looked down at me with a tint of worry.

"You be very careful out there, come back safely. Both of you." He glanced at Storm briefly who responded with a nod of his head.

"We will." Shiro leaned down to place a kiss to my head and waited a movement before pulling away.

"I will be monitoring everyone's process from the command room." His hand brushed the side of my face and he turned to leave.

"I'm going to change into my Paladin armor and meet you in the main hangar." I said; Storm and I headed in the opposite directions. I got back to Shiro's and I's assigned quarters and changed into my armor and ran out to meet my Drako. He was just outside of the hangar doors in his full height looking up at the sky. His scales sparkled in the light and his wings were neatly folded by his sides.

Storm sense my presence and looked down at me, _"Ready?"_

"Ready!"

Storm let out a roar and his armor began to cover him inside its silver platting. Each part clicked into place until it reached his head; when he opened his eyes, they were a vibrant blue. He wrapped his tail around my waist and brought me up upon his shoulders placing the protective barrier on my legs. This was it. The final battle for Earth. The humans had given it their all to take back their planet, but now they had us by their side. Sendak was going to fall and brought to justice for his crimes. Whatever happened today would go on the history of Earth.

Storm moved away from the hangar putting some distance between us and the facility to be able to open his wings. His talons brushed the floor with loud metallic sounds, resonating inside the orange dome.

"Taylin, we are going to be opening a big enough gap on the particle barrier for you and the MFEs to go through." Shiro's voiced echoed in my helmet.

"Understood, we are ready to take flight."

"Particle barrier opening in 3, 2, 1." Sam counted down and above us a gap opened on the dome. Storm flapped his mighty wings and shot us up into the sky at an incredible speed. He flapped rapidly gaining momentum and storing energy into the veins if his armor. When we reached outside, the MFE's had managed to catch up to us. I waved at them before Storm flapped down once more and rushed forward. The power he had created helped us boost even faster than his normal flight speed. The canyon looked like a brown blur.

"Paladins, our window of opportunity is razor thin." Shiro said into the open channel, "With the element of surprise, we'll have the advantage. Good luck."

Storm flew us over destroyed cities and over a few mountains, their faces had patches of burnt grass. Everything beautiful about them was stripped by Sendak, seeing them like this fueled my determination. I closed my eyes and reached out to my Lion. Feeling the strong bond, we had forged since the first time we became Lion and Paladin. Remembering every moment, we had together. She had fought by my father's side so long ago and her protectiveness over me only meant she was willing to keep doing so. She had come to my aid in various occasion like if her task was to defend me in my father's place.

 _"Come to me Nimawe... I need you."_

To my surprise I heard her roar clear as a bell inside my head, she had answered my call. I felt her turn on and fly towards Earth in a hurry to get to me. I opened my eyes to see the Galran structure coming up fast. The facility was bigger than I had anticipated and the Galra fighters has picked up on our signal. Storm roared, spit out a blue jet of fire and charged forward to engage. I summoned my bayard and launched an arrow into one of the fighters blowing up its left wing. It spiraled out of control and crashed on the rocky surface. Storm shot a water jet from his jaws taking down a few others as he circled around avoiding their laser fire.

 _"Arg, there is not a safe place to land!"_ Storm growled.

 _"We just need to hold them off until the White Lion arrives."_

 _"Where is it?!"_

 _"She's coming."_ I assured, _"She is close, I can feel her near."_

Storm back flipped, and I shot an arrow at the cockpit of the small ship obliterating it. Other Galra fighter began to surround us in massive quantities, they were coming out of the base like insects shooting at us from all angles. I created shields around us protecting us from the impact; Storm brought his wigs close to his body and dove as a torrent of lasers rained down. I summoned a fire ball to my right hand and fired at two ships causing them to crash onto each other.

 _"Where is the White Lion?!"_ Storm stated with urgency.

I closed my eyes briefly to sense where she was and saw through her eyes. She was high above in the Earth's atmosphere, but she was being blocked my two cruisers with dozens of fighters. I showed Storm what I had just seen.

 _"This is not good. I need to get you out of here."_ A feeling of fear seeped through our bond, there was too many for us to take them all down. Three smaller ships appeared before us and fired purple lassos in our direction. They were already to close preventing Storm from being able to evade. They wrapped around his neck and front legs pulling him violently. All our concentration was on breaking free that we did not notice the fighter that came up behind us. It fired sending me off Storm's back. I yelp trying to grab on to his side, but my grip slipped. My vision became blurry at the strength of the impact; my body was weightless as I flew down. I knew I had to summon my wings, but I could not bring myself to do so. I could make out the silver of Storm's armor as he struggled to break free; my name echoed inside my head with such gruffness that it frightened me.

I knew the ground was coming up fast so the only thing I did was cover my body in a shield of my powers and hoped for the best. I closed my eyes tightly awaiting the impact, but it did not come from behind as I was expecting. Something collided with my body sending me off course. I hit the ground sideways lifting up a dust storm. My helmet flew off and a rock hit the side of my face trailing blood down to my chin. A cold feeling wrapped my exposed face and a strong pressure took ahold of me. I rolled on the ground for several meters until I was finally able to come to a complete stop. I took deep breaths to calm my hammering heart and slowly moved my limbs trying to find anything broken but to my surprise there was none. There was only the throbbing pain on the side of my head as I tasted the blood on my lips. I opened my eyes to see blue and brown. Dirt particles floated all around me preventing me from seeing Storm in the sky, but I knew I needed to get back to him. He could not fend off all the fighters on his own and we needed to make a path for the White Lion to come through otherwise our mission would be a failure. All the other Paladins were counting on us to take down the cannon assigned to us and regroup to form Voltron.

I summoned as much strength as I could to my legs and placed one leg up pushing off my knee with my hands but from among the chaos of sand and dirt one things was clear; something was off with my armor. I stopped immediately examining my hands and touching the surface of my face. I forgot about my pain and stood up looking myself over. My body was covered in silver plaiting. The joints of the armor glowed a sky blue and the vizor on my face made my vision see a tint of the hue as well, that's when I realized that Storm had wrapped me in his armor or at least a piece of it. I looked behind me as I ordered my wings to appear. As soon as they materialized the armor began to cover them like a silver liquid engulfing them into its protective steel. I crouched down to give myself more momentum and jumped into the air with ease. "I'm coming Storm!" I broke through the dust and saw Storm still struggling to get free. He spit a torrent of fire as another fighter came to shoot as his head sending it crumbling in a ball of fire to the ground. I recalled how he used his armor and ordered it to reinforce itself in my forearms and thought of something sharp that could help me cut through Storm's bindings. As if the armor knew what I needed, the blades formed from its surface in the shape of long half ovals. I smiled and flapped my wings faster gaining energy on the veins of my wings. I shot forward, faster than I have ever flew on my own. I slashed through the lassos breaking Storm free and he destroyed the fighters with one sweep of his tail.

 _"It worked!"_ Storm stated, _"I thought it would not reach you in time."_

 _"How did you know it would even work?"_

 _"I didn't. I just thought I needed to save you with all my might and a piece of my armor flew down to you. It was remarkable and I'm so glad it worked."_

I smiled at him even though he could not see it from inside the helmet the armor formed, _"Enough chit chat let end this!"_

Storm roared and flew upward taking two fighters into his paws crashing them together. I followed his lead and flew above a ship. I wrapped my wings around myself and spun down breaking through the ship, leaving a hole. It exploded, and I sent a strong gust of wind changing its trajectory on the way down and crashing into another.

 _"Let's take out as many as we can, the White Lion is almost through."_

 _"My pleasure."_ He growled.

I moved away from incoming laser fire and outflew them, I turned around and called on my powers. I made the winds move around me, agitating them until a twister formed before me. I send it flying towards them making them lose control and colliding with a nearby mountain.

"Taylin, Lance, where are you?" Shiro's voiced came over the comm, "Can any of you hear me?"

I was about to respond when I fighter came at me, I strengthen the armor on my right arm and flew straight at it punching the glass and taking hold of the sentry inside the cockpit. I pulled it out, hurling it up in the air. I was about to jump to the next one when a familiar shadow fell over me; I looked up to see the White Lion flying close. "You made it." I breathed. I pushed off the fighter and flew into her waiting jaws and made my way into the cockpit. I sat on my seat and the helmet retracted from my face.

 _"Storm, I'm in my lion. Start making your way back to the Garrison."_

 _"Got it."_ He chomped down on one more fighter before setting a course back, _"Good luck, Taylin."_

Right when everything seemed to be going as planned, Lance's scream echoed in my cockpit making the hairs in the back of my head stand. Allura called out to him, but his communicator had shut down.

"Lance are you there?" Allura asked worried.

"Lance come in. Can you hear us?" I joined her.

"Lance, where are you, buddy?" Hunk asked.

"Lance, please respond?" Pidge added.

"Lance! Lance, come in!" Keith shouted.

Everyone's calls were in vain, no answer came from Lance's comm. I pang of fear for his safety crawled into my heart. "Shiro, do you have Lance's location?"

"We do, he still has not reached his destination. Their vehicle stopped transmitting half way."

"We have to get to him. Now." I said with urgency.

"Were all too far away from each other. We'll never make it in time." Pidge retorted in hysteria.

"Maybe not us, but Storm is on his way back."

 _"Storm!"_ I called out to him.

 _"I heard everything, I'm flying as fast as I can to his last known location."_ He answered pushing himself to the limit, _"I'm almost there."_

I waited, praying he would get to him quickly. Time seemed to be moving slowly. Seconds seemed like hours as I piloted Nimawe in circles alert to any sign of danger. I waited for two doboshes until I could not any longer.

 _"Storm, is Lance…"_

 _"He's fine."_ Storm huffed, _"The Red Lion got to him before I did. He and his sister are safe."_

I took a deep breath before voicing the news to the others, "Lance is okay. He okay."

The others sighed in relief; Hunk let out a cry of thanks.

"Red Lion, checking in!" Lance stated making us feel even more relieved.

"We have all Lions. It worked!" Iverson informed, cheering followed from the Garrison mission control.

"Here comes the really hard part." I sighed, I moved to fire on the base holding the cannon. Turrets began to fire from all directions trying to take me out. I took evasive maneuvers and fired from my lion's jaws and tail. A few fighters exited the fortress and followed close behind. I scratched the surface of the base causing mini explosions taking the fighters off my course and fired at them, taking them out.

"Ah! I'm taking heavy fire!" Hunk exclaimed.

Another fighter managed to graze my lion making me hit the side of the building.

"Something's wrong!" Allura shouted.

"These aren't normal base defenses!" Lance exclaimed.

Three cruisers suddenly popped on my radar raining down lasers on me. I surround my lion with a shield and returned fire, but it was difficult to see through the purple glow of the Galra's cannons, "I'm surrounded! I can't see where I'm going!"

"I'm pinned down!" Pidge stated.

"Keith, what do we do?!" Griffin asked, the MFEs were having the same trouble with the destruction of their cannon.

"Do what you have to." Keith responded, "We can't let those cannons launch!"

"There won't be anything left of us at this rate!" I shouted as the lasers shattered my shield. I quickly summoned another one and flew close to the ground lifting up dirt to at least try to hide for a few seconds. I fed White with the wind element and fired a twister from her month straight ahead creating a sand storm. The bay doors of the base began to open, and the cannon revealed itself. I used the sand to my advantage and flew close to the surface of the base upward, firing at the cannon but that only gave my location away; the Galra ships were hot on my trail in an instant.

"Focus on the Zaiforge cannons." Keith ordered, "Stop them from launching!"

"Were trying!" I seethed, circling back around.

"Base six is launching!" Griffin informed.

"I can't get near Base One's cannon." Lance said.

"I have three cruisers on me, I can get to the cannon." I said struggling to maintain my lion airborne.

"I can't stop the launch!" Allura exclaimed.

"Me either!" Hunk second.

"How did this happen?!" Pidge wondered.

"Sendak must have known we were coming. But how?" Keith said.

"It doesn't make any sense. He did not know the Lions were here. Unless… unless we have a mole." I realized.

"But who could have ratted us out?" Hunk asked.

No one answered his questions as the cannons began to ignite and lift off from the ground bases. The thruster's power lifted a cloud of dust as it began its journey into space. As much as I wanted to stop it, it was impossible to get through their defenses. The cruisers had me pinned down close to the ground, where ever I moved a Galra fighter followed.

"We were too late." Allura said, "The cannons have launched, and we're exposed. Sendak knows we're here with our Lions."

"What do we do now?" Lance asked.

"MFEs, return to the Garrison." Keith commanded.

"Roger that." They responded in unison.

"Paladins, we need to cut the head off the snake." He continued, "Taking out Sendak is our last option. Everyone, converge!"

I saw an opening through their defenses and flew up into the atmosphere pushing my handles to the limit and shooting us up into space; uniting with the other Paladins.

"Form Voltron!" Keith ordered.

Our lions began to shift and connect to each other until six became one flying towards Sendak's main command ship. The cannons began to power up firing at the reflected plates orbiting Earth. The blast bounced off them connecting to one another until all seven blasts hit us dead on. The energy surrounding us was too much, it was tearing us apart. I tried to hold Voltron together, putting all my strength into keeping the Lions in their perspective places. I screamed as the blast intensified, fighting against it. I could feel the lion's pain course through me. It felt like I was being torn from the inside out, my chest got heavier with every tick as if the energy was chocking the life out of my heart.

"MAKE IT STOP!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, "STOP! ITS TOO MUCH!"

I could no longer protect the other Paladins. No longer hold Voltron together. With the little strength I found I send a blast of energy from my very core disbanding us back into lions.

My breaths came out in short gasps and the flicker of energy of my crystal heart extinguished, surrounding me in cold and darkness; leaving us at the mercy of Sendak.

* * *

Hey everyone, so sorry for taking so long to update.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I'll try to update soon.

Thanks to all the people who wrote to me in support, I greatly appreciate it.


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